Editorial
Shame on you
F
FOR OUR SECURITY special last were actually silly enough to put “pass-
month, we decided to conduct a little word” as their password!
social experiment. We added in a little Almost all of the passwords used
box on page 45 called “A forward you were under 8 characters long. Though it
should ignore”, which basically told you was quite interesting to note that a few
that there was a way that you could get of you were smart enough to use strong
Gmail passwords of other people. passwords — over 8 characters, with
There are several reasons why this upper and lowercase letters, numbers
experiment should have failed: and even punctuations — but dumb
1. The title of the box seemed enough to fall for our little prank.
descriptive enough. The most ridiculous trend was that
2. The article it appeared in was about between 10 and 15 per cent of you were
“social engineering”. using your mobile numbers as your Robert Sovereign-Smith, Editor
3. The entire magazine was centered passwords — so anyone who has ever
around “Security”. called you could potentially hack into “...no one really cares that
4. It was in Digit, and our readers are your account. Also, some people used hacking someone else’s
supposed to be “tech gurus”. their own names, or their postal codes.
As of last count, over 1,100 people A lot of guys out there seem to
email account is illegal —
had happily parted with their own use girls’ names as their passwords, fines, jail terms, that kind
password, to try and get into someone and of those, surprisingly, only about
else’s account — with the number 10 per cent were looking for pass-
of illegal.”
increasing on a daily basis, this is hard- words for that same girl’s account. little less harsh on you, but you
ly a failed experiment. Interestingly, an equal amount were should realise that what you did
So here I am, sitting with over 1000 looking for the password to a differ- could have lost you another account.
passwords, and potential access to a lot ent girl’s account — you two-timers, So what does all this tell me?
of your personal information. Although you know who you are. From where I sit, a lot of us Indians
I’m not voyeuristic (and am not going to Although fewer in number, the seem to be inquisitive — bordering on
access your mail), all those of you who girls were more faithful, with most of voyeuristic. Perhaps that’s why I know
have sent me your passwords, are cer- the girls who had a boy’s name as their of women on our Thinkdigit forum
tainly quite the opposite. password, looking for that same boy’s who prefer to pose as men, just so they
Since I had to put your passwords login details — perhaps suspicious of won’t get harassed. In this particular
to some good use, I decided to do a lit- the two-timing guys mentioned above? case, it doesn’t seem like the women
tle data mining... Celebrity names were quite com- are any less voyeuristic though.
The very first trend that emerged, monly used as passwords, with Aamir I suppose I should be thankful
was that most of the respondents Khan and John Abraham being the that less than 1 per cent of our read-
were male, and looking for passwords most popular. Religious terms were ership has fallen prey to this so far,
of females — so basically, a bunch of also popular passwords, though but with millions of hoax mails reach-
voyeurs, or stalkers. We even got a few being caught trying to hack anoth- ing that same number on a regular
dozen women looking for passwords er’s account is hardly ethical, let basis, even a few thousand victims is
of male friends, so apparently stalk- alone religious. cause for concern. Get your act togeth-
ing isn’t gender-specific. It’s also quite “Syncmaster” seems to be a pop- er people — re-read our last month’s
apparent that no one really cares that ular monitor model, with enough of issue if necessary, but secure yourself
hacking someone else’s email you using it as a password to get from your own gullibility.
account is illegal — fines, jail terms, noticed. A few of you had “thinkdig-
that kind of illegal. it” as your password, and we’re flat-
It’s not just about snooping either; tered. One password actually read
I found that most of you use really “iamaloser”.
poor passwords. Simple keyboard com- Quite a few of you got conned by
binations like “qwerty”, “123456” and our little ruse, and tried to regain
“abcdefg” were common enough to access to accounts that you had for-
upset me. What’s worse, a few people gotten the passwords to, so we’ll be a editor@thinkdigit.com
YO U R T EC H N O LO GY N AV I G ATO R February 2009 • Volume 9 • Issue 2
Managing Director Sales and Marketing
Dr Pramath Raj Sinha VP Sales and Marketing To advertise
Naveen Chand Singh
Printer and Publisher Product Manager Navneet Miglani
Kanak Ghosh
South East
Assistant Brand Manager Arpita Ganguli Sanjay Bhan Jayanta Bhattacharyya
Publishing Director National Marketing Manager
Asheesh Gupta Vikram Duggal E-mail: sanjay.bhan@9dot9.in E-mail:
Editorial Marketing Communication Mobile: +91 9341829285 jayanta.bhattacharyya@9dot9.in
Editor-in-Chief Thomas Varghese Phone: (080) 25546370-73 Phone: +91 9331829284
Edward Henning Co-ordinator, Scheduling, Fax: 41518330 (033) 22317344/46
MIS and Ad-sales Aatish Mohite
Editor Phone: (044) 28235186/88
Robert Sovereign-Smith Production and Logistics Fax: 28230731 North
Writer Senior GM - Operations Phone: (040) 27894167/ 55221051 Pranav Saran
Aditya Madanapalle Shivshankar Hiremath Fax: 27720205 E-mail: pranav.saran@9dot9.in
Production Executive Vilas Mhatre
Test Centre Logistics M P Singh, Mohd. Ansari, Phone: +91 09312685289,
Manager - Test Development and Shashi Shekhar Singh West (011) 41608655/56/57/58
Sourcing Michael Browne Arvind Ambo
Manager - Testing and Processes Circulation and Subscription — Sales E-mail: arvind.ambo@9dot9.in International
Rossi Fernandes GM Circulation Milind Prabhughate
Reviewer Kumar Jhuremalani Co-ordinator Pramod Patil Mobile: +91 9819904050 Navin Chand Singh
Product Co-ordinators Customer Service Prerana Panchal, Phone: (022) 40373636/ E-mail: nc.singh@9dot9.in
KP Nambiar Vrushali Londhe 40373626/24494572/24467130/1 Mobile: +91 99013 00772
Fax: 24482059/24481123
Design Customer Service:
Creative Head Kabir Malkani 022-40789612/13/14
Art Director Rohit A Chandwaskar
Senior Designers MV Sajeev, Head Office: Editorial, Marketing
and Customer Service
Advertisers’ index
U Ravindranadhan
Nine Dot Nine Interactive Pvt. Ltd
Designer Soumya Mohanty
C/o KPT House, Plot 41/13, Sector 30,
Client Page No Microworld 63
Illustrators Shrikrishna Patkar,
Ashwini Baviskar Vashi (Near Sanpada Railway Station), Corona 49 MSI Inside Back Cover
Sr. Photographer Jiten Gandhi Navi Mumbai 400703
Phone: 40789666 Creative Inside Front Cover MTNL 103
Multimedia Fax: 022-40789540, 022-40789640
Project Head Robert Sovereign-Smith Dell 3 Ricoh Back Cover
Content Co-ordination
Aditya Madanapalle Cover Design Andre Rodrigues Elent 115 Rx Tech 113
eSys 19 SBI 17
Tell us what you feel about Digit
Each month, Digit walks through the technology maze to Fortune 117 Top Gun 45
bring you the most relevant, and the most researched iBall 11, 57 Vodafone 6, 7
stories. If you have an opinion about anything published
in Digit, or about technology in general, please write to Microsoft 15
editor@thinkdigit.com
Product testing Products reviewed this month
Want your product reviewed by Digit?
Bazaar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 LG RD 3500
Contact our Test Center at
testcenter@thinkdigit.com BenQ E900HD LG RD 3510
Canon Selphy CP 760 LG RD 3600
Software on DVD/CD
To submit and suggest software for Divoom XFORCE-1 LG RD 3610
inclusion in the Digit DVD or CD, write to Epson Stylus TX101 LG RD 6100
cdcontent@thinkdigit.com Intex IT-5400FM LG RD 6600
Help! LG KP500 Nokia 2626
For subscription or copy-related issues, McAcfee Internet Security 2009 Samsung E1410
send an e-mail to help@thinkdigit.com Mitashi TFD-7608 Samsung L700
Endorsements / reprints Mr Site Takeaway Website Samsung M200
Interested in ordering article reprints, MSI PR201 Samsung SCH F309
or using our logos? Contact Palit HD 4870 Sonic 1GB Sony Ericsson W350
reprint@thinkdigit.com
Samsung T220 Sony Ericsson Z555
Business enquiries WD My Passport Elite 500GB
For any business-related enquiries, contact
XFX 750a SLi Netbook Comparison Test . .46
business@thinkdigit.com
XFX 9800GT Acer Aspire One
News and new product launches Zotac GeForce GTX285 AMP! Edition ASUS Eee PC 904HA
To announce new product launches, and press releases,
ASUS Eee PC 1000H
email us at pressrelease@thinkdigit.com
Entry-level Cell Phones . . . .51 BenQ Joybook Lite U101
Disclaimer: For every Digit contest, there will be only one winner, unless
specified otherwise. In the event of a dispute, the Editor’s decision shall be final. LG KM380T Lenovo IdeaPad S10
LG KP199 LG X110
Printed and Published by Kanak Ghosh, for Nine Dot Nine Interactive Pvt. Ltd. C/o KPT House, Plot
41/13, Sector 30, Vashi (Near Sanpada Railway Station), Navi Mumbai 400703 LG KP220 MSI Wind U100
Editor: Sujay Nair, C/o KPT House, Plot 41/13, Sector 30, Vashi (Near Sanpada Railway Station),
Navi Mumbai 400703
Printed at Silverpoint Press Pvt. Ltd, Kohinoor Estate, 165, Tulsi Pipe Road, Lower Parel,
Mumbai 400 013
2 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009
CONTENTS
Regulars DIGITAL PASSION DIGITAL BUSINESS
February 2009
Security Watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 21 Story
Main 85 88 SOHO
Digital World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Stat Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Cleaning up the Vista Feature Smart
A first-hand experience with Windows 7 Beta High in the meltdown Second-hand PCs, a first-hand report
Buzzword Of The Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 There’s a lot you can do to reduce your operating costs in Today’s PCs may be more powerful than ever before, but what
W5H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Q&A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 27
Insight
these days of economic turmoil — from optimally using
your air conditioners to using your printers efficiently
about affordability? Second-hand PCs offer the perfect budget solu-
tion for your small office
Tips & Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 The return of the king
Tech Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Intel’s i7 is the new kid in town. Sure it’s fast; but it has its
Whatever Happened To. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 roots in the past. We tell you how and why… COVER FEATURE
People Who Changed Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Bluff Your Way Through . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Wild Wild Web. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
32 Maal
Drool DIGITAL LEISURE
Blogwatch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 The good stuff. Stuff to lust after. Stuff for the well-mon-
Digit Diary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Inbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
eyed
91
The Last Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 34Story
Main
Lead Feature
Alternate reality gaming
Chandrayaan Ever wonder what it would be like to be a part of an adven-
India is only the fourth country to have its flag on the lunar ture like Indiana Jones or a story right out of a Ludlum
surface! thriller? What if you could really be a part of something
like that —really a part of it?
Enter
12 16
36Story
Main 100
Sony Vaio P Series Samsung P3
3G and WiMAX Feature
13 18 High speed mobile connectivity is coming to India Game developers in India
Dell XPS 16 Stat Attack
13
Mobinnova Ice Phone
18
Buzzword: VoFi
DIGITAL TOOLS
104 106
Game On
14
Casio Exilim EX-FS10
20
W5H: Web 3.0
43
Feature
Game On
Mirror’s Edge
Street Fighter IV
16 Customer satisfaction
Neutrano’s wrist phone
46
Test
Netbooks
We check out THE latest, cheapest and lightest netbooks in
Escape India.
testers
111
51
Test
Australian tourism will pay you
to relax Thinking small
Cellphones aren’t all about touch screens, five megapixel
111 cameras, and a burning hole in your pocket. We showcase
China almost bans the web
110
Smellists rejoice
112
Chastity belts for the 21st century
16 affordable marvels
83 94
Lead Feature 108
110 114 Agent 001 Most anticipated games of 2009 Game On
Scientologists against HIV+ pro-
One really killer i-Phone app Peripheral vision Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe
Agent 001 goes shopping for gaming peripherals
4 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com FEBRUARY 2009 DIGIT 5
Contents Interactive Contents Interactive
DVD Contents February 2009
Tools Productivity By Demand
MULTIMEDIA INTERNET PROGRAMMING MULTIMEDIA
Camstudio 2.5 Poderosa 4.1.0 Visual Studio Express DAEMON Tools 4.12.4
Poderosa is a tabbed terminal Edition with SP1
emulator for Windows.
I SeaMonkey 1.1.14
I 2hotspot 1.4.0.7 Beta 4
I 3d Traceroute 2.4.39.2
I AllegroSurf 8.1.0.6
I BVRP Connection Manager Lite 1.0
I Dial-Up Optimiser 1.0
I FastNet99 4.3
I FeedFusion 0.92
This software is able to record all I FreeProxy 3.92 The Visual Studio 2008 Express
screen and audio activity and create I HappyFish 1.5.0.2 Editions DVD will let you install the
industry-standard AVI video files and I Hitware Popup Killer Lite following products: Visual Basic 2008 DAEMON Tools is an advanced
SWF files I Hotspot Shield 1.06 Express Edition, Visual Web Developer application for Microsoft Windows
I JDVoiceMail 2008 Express Edition, Visual C# 2008 which provides THE best optical
ID3 Renamer 3.0 I KidRocket Express Edition, Visual C++ 2008 media emulation in the industry.
I LockJar Express Edition, Popfly, SQL Server
I NetAnts 1.25 2005 Express Edition, SQL Server I Catalencoder 1.1 (French Only) / 0.7.9
I Netlimiter 2.0.10 Pro Express, SQL Server Compact Edition. I Floola for Windows 3.2
I Poderosa 4.1.0 I Foxit PDF Reader 3.0 Build 1301
I Rss Bandit 1.8.0.870 I DEV-C++ 4.9.9.2 I Gizmo Project for Windows 4.0.3.383
I Skype for Windows I MPSKWIN(IQ) 1.2 I JetPhoto Studio 4.1.0
I Star Downloader 1.45 I Plotter 2.5.1 I K-MeleonCCF ME 0.09 Final
Linux I SySpeed 2.1.01
I Transmute
I Snippet Compiler 3.0.2
MAME 0.126 Entertainment
OFFICE I CleanSheets I WebRipper OFFICE
MolliAdress I eOfficeWare I WiFi SiStr 1.0.2678.17860 Dooble
I Icalc 0.1.2 I WinHTTrack HD TRAILERS MOVIES
I Matrex 1.3 Do you have loads of MP3 files in a Che Death Rides a Horse
I OBPM directory and need to write a single SYSTEM
I pdf2oo common piece of information into I Access Manager 2.1.58
I pyspread 0.0.10a them ? Do you need to clean some I Cobian Backup 9.5.0.201
I Retromessenger-V0.2 portion of the ID3 tag? Do you need I DirSyncPro 1.0
I webxelleditor - v0.1.5 to remove the diacritics? ID3 I EraseTemp
I XSheet Renamer can help. I Filemon
I ZK Spreadsheet 1.0.0-RC1 I FileZilla v3 for Windows
I AfreecodecVT 2.0.88 I FreeFileSync 1.13
CREATE I AIMP Classic 2.50 Build 320 I lastpass 1.43 RC2
I Asymptote 1.56 I Any Video Converter 2.6.7 I Password Generator Pro 2008 1.4.02 November 26, 1956; led by Fidel As a child, Bill witnesses the murder
I DiscWrapper 1.1.0 I Audioblast I Process Explorer Dooble is a Secure and Open Source MAME stands for Multiple Arcade Castro (Demian Bichir), a band of 80 of his family by four robbers. Fifteen
MolliAdress ist a professional I GTK+ collage 0.3 I ATI Multimedia Center 9.16 I Universal Extractor Web Browser that provides solid per- Machine Emulator. When used in rebels sails to Cuba. Among these years later, he embarks on his
database program, to work with I GTKRawGallery 0.9.3 I AviDemux 2.4.3 r4532 Beta I VirtualBox 2.1.0 formance, stability, and cross-platform conjunction with images of the young rebels is Argentine physician, revenge...
adresses. The adressprogram is I LaTeXDraw 2.0.2 I Camtasia Studio 6.0.1 Build 782 I Windows XP Pro Startup Disk functionality original arcade game's ROM and Marxist, soldier, Ernesto “Che”
written in Delphi, lazarus for linux. I Tint Photo Editor 1.0.1 I DarkWave Studio 2.4 disk data, MAME attempts to Guevara (Benicio Del Toro). I Jack and the Beanstalk
I Dizzler Beta ESSENTIALS I BillQuick Lite 2008 reproduce that game as faithfully as I Zeitgeist: Addendum
I Bank Tao bank statement management DISTROS I DownUtube I .net Framework 2.0 I Jarte 3.3 possible on a more modern general- I Coraline
tool 1.1 I Open Suse 11.1 I DVD Flick 1.3.0.4 I .net Framework 3.5 I Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003 purpose computer. MAME can MUSIC
I Bean Sheet 1.0.5 I Linux Mint 6 I Evan's AVI Screen Capture 0.2.0.0 I µTorrent 1.8.1 I SmartDraw 2009 currently emulate several thousand Fighting Galdson – Roots
I FAVC 1.07 I Avast Home Edition 4.8 I Static Thunderbird Backup Free 2.8d different classic arcade video games
I GB-PVR 1.3.7 I Comodo Internet Security Pro I EScan 10 from the late 1970s through the
Gaming I Gom Player 2.1.14.4525
I HandBrake 0.9.3
3.5.55810.432
I Foxit Reader 3.0 CELLPHONE
modern era.
I ID3 Renamer 3.0 I Free Download Manager 2.5 Nokia PC Suite 7.1.18.0 I Visions 1.0.1.1613
GAMES as you approach the first bend but I iTunes 8.0.2.20 build 758 Final I Windows Live Photo Gallery 2009
BMW M3 Challenge keep your steering tight, you don't I KMPlayer 2.9.4.1434 Beta I Irfan View 4.20 Build 14.0.8051.1204
want to lose your advantage. I Media Graveyard 11.0 I Java(TM) 2 Runtime I XNView
I MediaPortal 1.0 I K-Lite Mega Codec Pack FULL 4.2.5 I Zune Software
I Frets on Fire I MP3 Repair Tool 1.5 I Opera 9.6 I Beauty Pilot 1.10 A small-town boy with a natural
I Gunbound I MPEG Streamclip 1.2 Beta 2 I Silverlight I Maya talent for street fighting becomes a
I HURRICAN I MPlayer for Windows (Full Package) I Spybot Search and Destroy 1.6.0 I Xilisoft Video Cutter 1.0.27.0307 star brawler on the bare-knuckle Classical piano instrumental free
2008-12-11 Build 44 I VLC Player 0.9.4 circuit, but soon realizes the dark Music Album from Jamendo
TRAILERS I Picasa for Windows I WinRAR 3.80 DRIVERS world he's entered may be impossible
Killzone 2 I QuickCam 1.0 I Ati Graphics Card Drivers to escape. NIN – The Slip
They said the morale of the Helghast I Real Alternative 1.9.0 UPDATES AND ADD-ONS I Creative Sound Card Drivers Nin Inch Nail's latest DRM free album,
was at an all-time low, they were I Soundbase 2008.12.18 I Adobe Shockwave Free applications for Nokia phones that I Nvidia Graphics Card Drivers I Friday the 13th the Slip.
Start the ignition to see just what the dead wrong. I Stoik Video Converter I Avast Update lets you edit, synchronize and back up I Realtek Sound Card Drivers I Night at the Museum: Battle of the
V8 high-rev engine is capable of. Shift I taksi 0.7.5.7 beta I AVG Update many of your phone's files I Driver Detective Smithsonian I Do-Up – Acoustic Lounge
up through the gears to propel the I Scorched 3D I TVersity Media Server I Java runtime update I The Curious Case of Benjamin Button I Equals Conquest – Manifest Destiny
BMW M3 Coupé forwards as it I The Babylon Project 3.4b (Final) I Virtual VCR 2.6.9 I Kaspersky definition Update I Nokia Synchronization 1.0.29 DISTROS I The Last House On the Left I Esgi – Echoes in Time
constantly pushes the boundaries of I Tyrian 2000 I VirtualDub I Norton Internet security update I Samsung PC Studio 3.2.1 GL6 I Fedora 10 I Valkyrie I JT Bruce – The Dreamer's Paradox
driving pleasure even further. Brake I Ur-Quan Masters I YamiPod 1.7 I Spybot updates I Sony Ericsson PC Suite 4.006 I Vector Linux 6.0 I X-Men Origins: Wolverine I Lull – Duo Acoustique
8 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 For any queries regarding the CD or DVD, e-mail help@thinkdigit.com with “CD/DVD” as the subject. www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 9
If the subject is not mentioned, your mail might not reach the right person.
Online
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FEATURED REVIEW FROM THE DIGIT FORUM (www.thinkdigit.com/forum)
Re: which distro is well suited for study purpose? I mean for learning a Linux system.
Learn one at a time. As for ubuntu. One of the basic things Quite a simple job, but
software, ALL distros have And OpenBSD is not linux. everyone needs to learn is how irritates the hell out of you
same set of software available. Its a BSD. Definitely not to compile your own kernel. Its and needs HUGE amount of
I suggest keeping ubuntu recommended at this stage. actually much much easier PATIENCE to read all those
MetalheadGa
for some time longer and then You have a long way to go than it sounds. You basically descriptions.
utham getting fedora next year after a before you can find OpenBSD need to scroll between Luckily, you get to do the
Genuine Linux
few months. comfortable to use. First learn hundreds of options and configuring in parts, and for a
User Keeping two distros on Linux. choose add, discard or guy who lacks patience, it may
[apple.jpg]
Join Date: Sep
same PC at a time would also Most collages are now modulize. I recommend take a whole week of 1 hour
2007 kill your internet connection. teaching Linux instead of Unix modulizing whenever possible long sittings. But if you are a
Location:
Gotham City
Lots to download if you want and most Unix commands and if some feature is real gandhi, you can do it in a
Posts: 5,371 to keep both updated. work on Linux. However, if you SERIOUSLY USELESS then single sitting. Experts don't
Linux Mint is best said as are one of the unlucky few discard it. You get to optimise need to READ the descriptions
Ubuntu for the casual user. who need to learn using Unix, the kernel for several things, so it takes them only a few
Don't consider it now that you the only 100% Unix compatible like support for upto 16GB minutes.
installed Ubuntu. Its pointless OS which is free to use is Sun RAM on 32bit OS, no. of cores, Before that, you need to
now to install it. You would Microsystems' Solaris OS. Its etc. Then compile using a set your cflags right.
learn much faster with not too hard to use BTW. ready-made script.
10 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Enter
L
ike always, the Consumer Electronics Show this year had a there but a fair bit of emphasis was on consumer models than come cheap; you’ll have to
whole plethora of products; some were impressive and some prototypes. We saw the lines between Netbook, Notebook and Security Watch shell out Rs. 90k
were absolutely jaw-dropping. Well some were weird but we’ll Ultra-portable blurring and hi-end camera’s becoming to own this bad
get to them later. The two noticeable trends were ‘small is unimaginably small. Now that the dust has settled its time for us to
Downadup worm boy. Good bang
beautiful’ and ‘low-cost’; the latter being quite in line with the sieve through the chaff and give you a round up of things that
wrecking havoc for the buck.
general economic climate. The flashy larger-than-life stuff was caught out attention. A worm by the name of
Win32.Worm.Downadup.B.
THERE WERE OTHER PHONES
is fast spreading across the
TOO YOU KNOW
Enter net. Within four days, it
infected four times the
numbers of computers it
Mobinnova
Ice Phone
was on. The rapid spread is
because the worm skirts
T
around AV software by
hough most of the
ULTRA PORTABLE NETBOOK can really use the keyboard Z520 1.33 GHz processor. iPhone critics. The phone using rarely-used APIs in
action was going on at
comfortably. But Sony has The P has a lot of little comes with a 3.1 inch ‘person’ than a service. Ethernet ports are built in, the Palm Pre booth,
Sony Vaio P engaged in some good re- features added to make it multitouch display with a
the system. The worm hides
in a folder in the recycle
Currently the Pre is not and so are the SD slot and another interesting handset
engineering there; they’ve even more easy to use than resolution of 320 x 480. It bin, and updates itself by
available in GSM version but webcam. The hard drive is found on the show floor
I
t’s not a Netbook — and got rid of the touch pad and it already is. If boot time is runs on Palm’s new webOS, checking upto 250
Palm is expected to 160 GB but expandable to was the Mobinnova Ice. It
don’t you forget it. Sony put in a ThinkPad style ‘dot’ a concern it launched into a which from a usability randomly generated
announce a GSM/UMTS 250 GB. There’s no internal looks quite funky with a
calls their nifty little to operate the cursor. The Linux based Cross Media standpoint appears to be domain names, which have
model for Europe and Asia 3G wireless, but Bluetooth complete black body with
device a Pocket Style PC. It’s additional space created is Bar within 20 seconds, top-notch. Its not at all componants.
in mid-February. We’re and Wi-Fi are present. MSI no visible buttons when it’s
an ultra thin, 594 grams engulfed by the keyboard, which lets you access sluggish and seamlessly The safest way to prevent
certainly eagerly awaiting it. claims the four cell battery off. So in effect it looks like
fully functional PC. It was making it 92 per cent of a mostly everything you want floats from one ap (or ‘card’ the spread of this particular
will give you 10 hours of a big black shiny box until
one of the hottest item full size notebook keyboard. including internet access, as they call it) to another. worm is to not switch USB
THE CLONE battery life, which will have you start operating it.
numbers in Vegas and we Numbers aside, it’s very email, music, and photos. Still it remains somewhat of to be put to test. But fact Everything on the front is
got our hand on one when easy to use with both hands Then there is the Window a mystery as reportedly the
drives between computers.
If your USB drive has a
MSI X320 remains this is the closest touch-sensitive and only
we were invited for its India (unless of course you’ve got arrangement utility button palm representatives were mysterious recycle bin
thing to a Mac without it lights up as needed. Its got
which quickly arranges all quite cagey about handing
W
folder, there is a good
hy this particular really being a Mac. a 3 inch 240x400 touch
open windows side by side. over the phone to people for chance that you have this
notebook? Because screen, and the control
Plus the wide screen too long. Understandable, worm. Keep your work USB
it’s the MacBook THE STUDIO NOTEBOOK buttons next to the main
actually lets you since the phone is Palm’s Air’s twin. And a not so screen. The phone gives a
comfortably work on both ticket for a big comeback,
drives seperate from the
ones for personal use to
pricey twin at that. While DELL XPS 16 vibration feedback when
windows. So no more alt- after their sales plummeted prevent either your
the Macbook air will set you you touch buttons, so you
tabbing. Sony has also drastically over the years. back by $1600 this ultra
D
workplace or your home
ell has positioned know what you’ve touched.
thrown in noise cancelling Overall the phone looks computer from being
thin notebook’s price range this notebook as a It runs Windows Mobile 6.1
in-earphones and pretty good and the slight infected.
is from $800-$1,000. Still, very high end Professional on a 528 MHz
apparently the noise bend the keyboard offers Microsoft has released a
there is more to this utra- lifestyle product, for the Qualcomm 7201A processor
cancelling circuitry is in the will definitely help in its patch, but the fix itself was
thin notebook than just the discerning consumer who and has your standard 3G,
Netbook... err... notebook basic function — talking. faulty.
price. It’s not a cheap wants style, power and a GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 3-
itself. With a supposed Another area where it scores The worm affects XP,
knockoff. The X320, like the little bit of prestige that megapixel camera, TV out,
battery life of 3 hours it’s over the iPhone is the Windows 2000 and
Air, has an all-aluminium comes along with owning a an FM radio and an
Launch. The India product sumo fingers) and the something that a lot of camera. Its got a 3 Windows Server 2003.
body. It weighs, in-fact, a pc like this. Many accelerometer.
head for Vaio pulled a tactile feedback is good. people ought to be looking megapixel camera with LED There are no workarounds
little less than the Air; its manufacturers are currently
familiar stunt by pulling Why is the Netbook tag forward to in 2009. flash. The touch screen has as yet. The worm is
LED screen is not different offering near desktop
out the device from his blasphemy? Sony says this is its own motion--specific spreading by exploiting
from the Mac Air, with a configs in portable laptops, THE TABLET NETBOOK
jacket pocket. But believe us because theirs is a fully IPHONE KILLER? commands. For instance to screen resolution of be it 4gigs of RAM, home-
this is no stunt — it can functional PC with no close an application just
multiple systemic
1,366x768 and a 16:9 form theater features, and big ASUS EEE
comfortably slip into a coat compromises like other Palm Pre flick it upwards. What
weaknesses, including weak
passwords. The worm
factor. Where it differs is in screens. But dell has upped
T101H and
pocket. The device is as Netbooks. We say it’s about independent aps? As restricts some traffic (like
the keyboard and touch the ante with its stunning
small as a PC can get because of the price. The
EEE T91
P
erhaps the first real of now there aren’t any but system updates), but is
pad. The keyboard does not design and inbuilt
without compromising on two variants to be available iPhone killer, the Palm the webOS allows otherwise not involved in
follow the isolated style of technology, while of course
usability. Its got a 8-inch in India will be priced Pre is being talked development in Javascript, any malicious activity. The
the Air and of course there keeping up with all other
ultra wide screen with a around Rs. 49,990 and about as the hottest product HTML and CSS. Other tid- are no gesture capabilities specs. Take the screen for
A
main threat at this point of
SUS, who probably
stunning 1600 x 768 display, Rs. 64,990. The difference in of CES 2009. Its small, light, bits include incredible web time is the worm allowing
on the touch-pad such as instance; a 16 inch RGB LED started the whole
and 2 gigs RAM which is both models is in the has an intuitive touch integration with services computers to be used by a
pinching and three finger widescreen with a 1080p Netbook craze with
more than enough to allow processor and the Version of screen, but best of all its got such as Facebook and botnet. These can be used
swiping etc. Yet, some of the resolution — perhaps a its EEE PC, is nowhere close
the preinstalled Vista OS to Vista. The higher variant a neatly tucked in sliding Microsoft exchange. It to send spam for example.
X320’s features can actually graphics professionals to being overrun by
not choke. Initially because (P15) is based on the Atom full qwerty keyboard! The follows a unique form of Downadup is also known as
make the Air squirm. For dream. Its bundled with a competitors in the fray. To
of its small size we were Z530 1.6 GHz processor, lack of a keyboard is the collecting info like mail, Conficker and Kido.
instance a total of three blue ray reader and an HDMI prove this point it
sceptical about whether one while the lower P13 has a most common complaint of messages, chats, around a USB ports. VGA and port. The XPS 16 doesn’t introduced its newest
I Goolge replaced as best company to work for by NetApp in Fortune’s list I Mac turns 25 I Google discontinues its project on real world print advertising I Qualcomm buys mobile technology from AMD, $65 million gets exchanged — in cash
12 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 13
Enter
The Digital World A Round-up Of Technology News From Across The Globe
GERMANY
Supercomputers from
Germany become
environmentally
sustainable
CHINA
The online population of
China reaches 3 million
US
New York city
gives Touris-ts
high tech
information SPAIN JAPAN
center based on Spain’s Prado Tmusk unveils
Google Maps museum displays Robocop style
its art through MIDDLE EAST security robot
Google Earth Cellphones are controlled by mobile
being used for INDIA phone
propoganda in Ghajini inspired 3D
Gaza and Israel video game, dubiously
dubbed indias first,
hits the markets
AUSTRALIA
Linus Trovalds shaves
Bdale Garbee’s beard
to raise money for
preservation of the
Tasmanian Devil
convertible tablet PCs, the Windows simplified
ASUS EEE T91 and the EEE interface that allows for
T101H. Both essentially just easy touch operation and
versions of each other, one big icons for the err simple
comes with 8.9-inch and user. It also has Express
while the other with a 10- Gate, which is an instant
inch screen respectively. boot utility. It allows the
Both have a hinge swivel to 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM, 160GB
turn the display around and hard drive machine to
lay it back on top of the instantly boot up showing
keyboard. They run a Linux- only Firefox, Adobe Flash,
based OS, but will probably Skype, and a photo viewer
have enough juice to handle recording with the ability fame you want while so the user has instant
XP. Not much about the to shoot up to 1,000fps slow viewing it on its 2.5 inch access to almost all basic
device is known but it is motion video. A perfect LCD. Its got additional functions. The best part is
speculated that example of gadgets going features like 3x optical — its slated to retail at only
specifications will be smaller without zoom, 720P HD video $400. Good to have around
somewhere close to being in compromising on anything. recording, Face Detection the house don’t u think?
the Netbook range. The Exilim is equipped with and High-Speed Night Scene
21 Best Shot (BS) modes, mode but strangely lacks FOR USE IN BED
TINY CAMERA including Multi-Motion image stabilisation.
Image and High-Speed Best The Choiix
Casio Exilim Selection. There’s also a Pre- EASY TO USE
Ucool
EX-FS10 Record function, YouTube
Capture mode and Lag Asus Eee Top notebook
Correction, which comes to
pad
A
pint sized but the aid of those who are
I
ts Asus again and their
powerful 9 meagpixel slow to hit the shutter EEE line up seems to be
camera with the button. Speaking of the getting increasingly
ability to shoot up to 30fps shutter, the camera is meatier and not to
T
here’s no place for a
in burst mode, a speed extremely silent. Its got a mention more interesting. laptop in between the
faster than a typical SLR. slow motion viewing mode This latest device is a 15 sheets right? But
The camera is even capable so you can capture the inch touchscreen desktop people use their notebooks
of high speed video screen shot of exactly the pc. It has a special just about everywhere,
I Dell XPS laptops to ship with 356 GB solid state drives I Video Games in the US to have health advisories, similar to cigarette packs
14 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Enter
including the bedroom. So surrounds you with some FROM LCD TO LED
often you’d be sitting in rocking tunes out of its
bed with your laptop on a built-in speakers. The Samsung
pillow or precariously
balancing it on you lap in
vibration will surely rock
your world. But the only 8000 Series
weird kamasutra-like poses,
wondering there must be a
trouble is that it’s a 2
square feet platform, so
240-Hz LED
better way. Well there is.
The Choiix Ucool notebook
you can’t go Ac/Dc on it —
meaning if your style is to
HDTV
pad is designed specifically jump around all over the
for this purpose. Available A PHONE? stage- you can’t. Other
S
amsung wants to
in your choice of blue, than that it should be a focus on LED TV as its
black, or green, it is an A Projector? fun device for all the new growth engine in
ergonomically designed wannabe guitar heroes out 2009. So although it
pad for when you want to
E
verything seems to be there. showcased a whole lot of
use your laptop in bed or fusing with phones at home theater products at
on the couch. The curvy CES 2009. The latest to BLU-RAY NOW WITHIN REACH CES 09, it has put a lot of
design allows for adequate follow the trend is the Logic emphasis on its 8000 Series
airflow beneath your Bolt. Logic Wireless the VBR100 of energy-efficient, mega-
notebook and, at the same company behind the phone fast-motion-capable 240Hz
time, the Ucool is stiff claims it can project a two-
I
t’s a Blu-ray player. So LED-based 1080p HDTVs.
enough to provide hour movie on a 36-64 inch why is it being featured LEDs offer higher contrast
sufficient support. screen! And from almost here? For its affordable ratios, slimmer designs,
any source, including an under $150 price tag. The and lower power
THE WEIRD STUFF XBox or Nintendo Wii. The player is being launched consumption as compared
phone uses an LCoS (liquid as a part of Vizio’s effort to the regular LCDs. The
Neutrano’s crystal on silicon) projector to bring Blu-ray to a wider most interesting aspect of
Wrist phone with an LED backlight. The
phone also has a 320x240
audience.
This is certainly good
the 8000 series is its 240Hz
technology.
touch screen and a 3 news, because it looks like The cutting-edge “Auto
E
very tech show megapixel camera. The the gap between DVD’s Motion Plus” technology
apparently must have most interesting part, apart and Blu-ray is narrowing. promises enhanced picture
a wristwatch phone. from the projection A lower price will even quality even with lightning-
Like some sort of a James capabilities, is the fact that benefit Blu-ray disk sales. fast action scenes. It will be
Bond fantasy that must be it will be sold subsidized by But coming back to the available in 46 and 55 inch
fulfilled. This is the kind of T-Mobile for $100. Lets make VBR 100 its low price variants. Its other features
gadget we were referring to a note about this one and doesn’t appear to sacrifice include “Ultra Clear Panel”
when we said you will find keep an eye on its much in the way of for reduced reflection and
products at CES that’ll make development. features. increased perceived
you wonder if they really are The player provides 7.1- contrast which should give
useful. Nevertheless they are channel analogue output u great contrast even in
hi-tech. This piece of spy (using a 108MHz/11-bit bright light. The screens
inspired equipment looks Digital to analogue are to include built-in
like a standard chunky black converter) and full Ethernet along with Wi-Fi
watch but has a 1.4-inch, decoding support for capability so that it
160x128 TFT LCD Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD displays widget-based
touchscreen. A standard Master Audio, and PCM content from Yahoo, Flickr,
phone keypad curves lossless audio formats as and other Web sites can be
halfway over the wrist band well as common audio displayed through its
while there is a speaker over formats including Dolby propriety “internet@tv”
the screen. It has a media LETS ROCK Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, service.
player, 4 GB of space and fm and DTS. It will also
and all that kind of guy Guitar Hero function as DVD player COMPETITION FOR THE I-POD
stuff but at a price tag of
$250-300, we seriously Platform capable of providing up to
1080p video output via its Samsung P3
wonder if anyone will HDMI port. It doesn’t look
willingly pick it up. Another
A
ce Bayou showcased too bad either with its
T
he Samsung p3
notable mention in this a specialized illuminated touch- player tries to give
category is the LG GD910 wireless Guitar Hero sensitive front panel you something that
Watch Phone. platform that vibrates and controls. most touch based devices
I Facebook starts allowing members to use its own markup language I Apple announces spectacular profit of $10 billion in the last quarter
16 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Enter
AMD announces Despite recession,
$1.4 Billion tech-related salaries
losses
increased by 4.6%
3% Global IT in 2008
business
predicted to fall Job Cut counts:
by in 2009 Logitech — 600
Autodesk — 750
AMD — 1100 you look like a dork. But THE BROWSER CAM
Venture capital Sony — 2000
finally there is a 3d screen
goes down to that doesn’t require them. Sony
Motorola — 4000
$3.4 billion
Microsoft — 5000
Lets define first what 3d
means. It doesn’t mean Cyber-Shot
in 2008 from effects that just create only
Ericsson - 5000
11.7 billion an illusion of depth like
C
urrently there are
in 2007 Intel - 6000 your 3d wallpapers; it very few Wi-fi
means that things enabled camera’s out
occasionally do jump out there and none that come
lack. A tactile response or NOT FOR FUN of the screen. But strangely with a built in browser. The
feedback like on a Alioscopy does not plan to G3 then is the first Wi-Fi
keyboard. The P3, available 3D TV put the TV into the camera with a built in web
in 8, 16, and 32GB, obvious entertainment browser. Now you can
features “haptic feedback”
W
ell 3d TVs have application (for now). access networks on the fly
which means when you been around for They are looking into and start uploading
press its 3-inch TFT LCD quite some time using the technology in pictures and video to
you get a vibration but the biggest complaint medical applications popular sharing sites as
response. is that they require those because you would be able soon as you click em. Sony’s
It’s a direct competitor annoying glassed. They’re to view body systems in 3 got its own “easy upload
to iPod touch which has irritating and they make dimensions. home page” set up to make
no such feature. The the process simpler and has
screen has a true 16:9 partnered with YouTube,
aspect ratio, which serves Dailymotion, Picasa, and
up video at 30 frames per Shutterfly. Features include
second. a slim build, a high-
It plays and reads resolution, 3.5-inch 16:9
almost everything touchscreen (with 921,000
including MPEG4, WMV, pixels), 4 gigabytes of built-
WMA and MP3 for in storage, a 4X optical
audio, as well as JPEG and zoom and 10.1 megapixel
TXT files. captures. Its Wi-Fi radio will
It has fm and voice be compatible with
recording but no internet 802.11b/g networks.
capabilities.
VoFi
oFi:
VVoiceVoFi stands forWi-Fi.
over IP over
This means using the Wi-Fi hotspots found around
quality of Wi-Fi networks as compared to
traditional cell phone networks. What this means
for the user is a lot more of VoFi capable mobile
major cities for making voice calls. While existing handsets coming into the market, which can
software make this easily possible, VoFi interface with both networks. Some phones, like
technology hopes to exploit the better sound the G1 already have this capability.
I Google lays of just 100 staff — all of them recruiters I USB 3.0 poised to outperform nextgen eSATA and FireWire
18 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Enter
NOKIA add value to Nokia’s audience. Titled Infinite
service and software Possibilities, the event
Bringing experience”, says Srikanth partners NAVTEQ unveiled
developers Raju, Director and Head of
Product Marketing, Forum
the LBS Challenge for
developers, an online
Web 3.0
together Nokia.”The best way to
predict the future is to
competition with over
US$5.25 million prize
What is Web 3.0 invent it,” said Mahmood money, in cash and data
The semantic web that has been
I
believe that in two Kalantar, inviting the licenses. “We have seen
talked about for so long is one of years time, many of you developers to take a the evolution of mobile
the central themes — basically
would be sitting on Customer Oriented devices from Navigation to
the machines understand human
needs better. The best way to multi-million dollar Approach to developing User Generated Content in
explain this is the music portal fortunes earned by your mobile applications. the past 15 years.
Last.fm which throws up music ideas and innovations”, According to Kalantar, the Consumers are now
artists and bands similar to the said Kenny Mathers, Head, future of mobile operating mature and demand more
artists and bands you like. Developer Relations, system is Symbian OS personal security and eco
Forum Nokia addressing a which is Open Source and (-friendly) Applications,”
Why do we need Web 3.0?
Web 1.0 was about information, packed audience at the developed not for profit by said Tom Tierney, Head of
where users could go online and Nokia Developers an independent Partner Alliances, NAVTEQ.
access and download data. Web Conference 09, held at Taj foundation and its source Digit Magazine was the
2.0 was about production, users Residency in Bangalore on code is available from day media partner at the event
would create and post content. the 20th January. The one one. Annirudh Mathuria, also showcased
YouTube, blogging, Flickr were day event was attended by Vice President, Symbian innovations by Nokia’s
all web 2.0 revolutions. Web 3.0
will go a step further, where the over 550 people, including India, identified Massive partner developers. These
internet can execute processes developers, mobile Data Holding, Graphic included Quillpad-a
and have practical applications. operators, industry experience, Power language tool, Nano
watchers, vendors, to Management and High Hanuman- an application
When will it hit us? share their experiences Speed Networking as the for remote controlling of
Not soon. Web 3.0 will be and explore the future of major challenges for water pump sets, and
dependant on a lot of
possiblities and challenges technology developers Maverick Secure Mobile —
technologies reaching their
maturity, which will not happen in the world mobile today. “As the bandwidth a security application that
for at least another two years. market. increases, experience helps protect data, track
The time period for Web 3.0 is “Indian developers are changes. When people stolen devices, retrieve
expected to be 2010 to 2020. the most valued people in start using more and more phonebook and disable
the world. Their quality, data, operators can earn stolen devices remotely
Where will its weight be felt?
output and levels of greater revenue,” said by working in a hidden
The biggest change in Web 3.0
content will be the audiovisual interest are amazing. They Annirudh while talking mode.
aspect. Text based web pages are our partners as they about Symbian to the
will give way to high definition
audio and visual content. Some
experts are even talking about a
totally 3D web experience, a la
second life. Expect a much more
fluid interface to the web.
Which technologies are likely
to be used?
Dramatic improvements will be
seen in data interpretation, that
is how a website is parsed or
processed before being thrown
up to the user.
How will it benefit users?
Open standards, and APIs that
everyone can access are two
things people are talking about.
Online collaboration on projects
will become a mainstay.
Distribution of software and
games will become easier, and
cheaper. Multimedia sales may
shift completely to online
markets.
I Ebay’s income drops by 31 per cent I Microsoft donates code to the Apache open source project I Apple selling used products in China
20 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Digital
27 The Return of
the King 34 Chandrayaan
36 3G and WiMax
Passion
Fuelling The Pursuit Of Technology Knowledge
Main Story
Cleaning up the Vista
Ahmed Shaikh ment and the “I am a PC” advertisements).
A first-hand And so we have Windows 7. Microsoft’s
experience with
W
e hate Microsoft for Windows Vista. approach to this ‘new’ OS is clearly communi-
Here was an OS we were truly excited Windows 7 Beta cated through the Windows 7 web site —
for — DirectX 10 accelerated, vector “Over the past few years, you’ve asked us to
graphics, an all-new communications layer, make some changes to Windows…”, it says,
tweaks and rewrites at the kernel level, a new “We listened closely.” Windows 7, is thus, all
interface — it promised all the right things. And about fixing Vista.
delivered little more than a badly-imple- What are these fixes? Most of the
mented security feature (UAC), an Orb changes can be summed up in one
where the Start button used to be, word — streamlined. Windows 7 Beta
a ridiculous enhancement to is a more refined and stream-
[Alt] + [Tab] (seriously, who lined version of Vista. The
uses the Flip 3D?), and a annoying UAC is significantly
Sidebar / Gadgets feature less irritating now, to the
copied from sundry, and point of actually being
free, programs. useful and not constant
If you think we’re mothering by an over-
being a little too hard bearing OS. Windows
on Microsoft, then itself makes better use
right you are. After all, of some of the struc-
we need to spend tural changes intro-
almost an entire duced in Vista — Aero is
month’s pay to much more than a shiny
purchase Windows Vista coat, Search is much
Ultimate Edition, and all improved, network
we got for it was a half- management is a lot
decent game (Tinker), a simpler, bootup is faster,
crash-happy feature Windows itself feels a lot
(DreamScene, a desktop back- more snappier, copying of data
ground utility that was promptly across media is no longer a chore,
ripped and released for Windows and moreover Windows 7 Beta intro-
XP), and a bunch of stuff we don’t care duces some welcome, and dare we say,
about (BitLocker, language packs, sound great changes to the Windows way of
schemes, poker)… So yeah, it’s personal. getting things done.
Apparently, we’re not the only ones with While adding features, Windows 7 also
either disdain or apathy for Windows Vista — throws away some applications otherwise
market surveys by various organisations show bundled. Whether this is a fallout of their
that Vista’s OS market share hovers around 20 legal escapades, we don’t know, but
per cent, as of December 2008… It’s a broken OS. Messenger, Mail, and Gallery are now moved
out of the Windows installation and packaged
Fixing Vista separated under the Windows Live banner.
So Vista’s a wash. The consumers know it, and Hopefully, this will allow for greater innova-
Microsoft knows it (hence the Mojave experi- tion from the Live team.
www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 21
Digital Passion l Cover Story
The Taskbar of transluscent windows, each representing
Ever since Windows 95 introduced the taskbar either a new document or a new tab. So let’s
and the Start button, this central aspect to the say you have four Word files open — this
Windows interface hasn’t seen any substantial feature will show you a preview of the four
changes. Windows Vista, of course, replaced and let you navigate to each tab or window
the rectangular “Start” area with just a spheri- using the mouse. You can also minimise,
cal logo, and did little else. Windows 7 Beta maximise and close a window using just this
takes the taskbar to an all-new level, and it preview, removing the need to [Alt]+[Tab] to
does so by intelligently extending the current it.
functionality, not by introducing drastic 3. Any program can be pinned to the taskbar.
changes. The taskbar is now thicker, almost This is similar to the Quick Launch feature of
twice the height of the older one. It also does past versions — but much more useful since a
away with the labels for programs launched pinned program can not only launch a
(although this behavior can be changed). program, but also manage windows inside
Finally, it introduces several key changes to Managing open Windows that launched program. Think of pinning as
how programs on the taskbar now work: using the taskbar evolving the taskbar to a more dock-like
behaviour of OS X (or the sundry-free dock
applications available for Windows).
4. The pinning behaviour, when applied to
Windows Explorer, exposes another cool
feature — it lists your libraries. Why this is
welcome will become apparent when we talk
about libraries later.
5. Right-clicking on a pinned program pops up a
list of recently open / created documents
under that program — called a Jump List. This
is a truly great feature as you can now open
frequently used documents right from the
taskbar, instead of hunting for them under
Explorer or looking for them under a
program’s menu bar. Furthermore, each
recent item in Jump List can be pinned, so
you can quickly access important files by
pinning them down, even if it’s been a while
since you have opened them.
1. When a program is launched, 6. In some programs such as Windows Media
its icon appears on the taskbar. Player, you also see control overlays. You can
The default behavior is without thus play / pause, rewind / forward music
labels. When you hover over an without leaving your current application.
icon, Windows 7 pops-up a 7. Other small changes include a thin vertical
small snapshot of the app bar on the extreme right of the task bar.
(called a preview), moving the When you hover over this bar, Windows lets
mouse over this snapshot will you peek at your Desktop. Moving away
show a preview of that applica- from the bar brings you back to your
tion Window. Move the mouse current application. This is a quick method
away, and the OS brings you of looking at gadgets that are now shown on
back to your currently active the desktop. The thicker taskbar also allows
application. This is a great way for both date and time to be shown, about
to quickly peek into other time too…
windows, without leaving the Personally, the ability to pin a program
current application. along with the History pop-up has completely
2. Multiple windows of a changed the way we use the Start Menu — in as
launched program (even tabs much as we rarely hit the Start button anymore.
for some supported apps) are
now grouped together under Windows management
the same icon in (1) above. Some minor, but welcome changes to working
This is similar to the grouping with open programs: (1) You can drag open
done by XP and Vista, but is a windows to the upper screen edge to maximise
much more elegant solution it. Dragging it back to the centre of the screen
based on how the group’s will restore the window (2) You can also drag a
elements are exposed on mouse-hover over Windows Explorer recent window to the left of your screen to make it fill
a launched program’s icon. It shows a row items and libraries the left half of your desktop. Ditto for the right
22 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Digital Passion l Cover Story Digital Passion l Cover Story
cations. No longer will you need to create inde-
pendent libraries of your music / videos / photo-
graphs under different programs — Winamp,
Picasa, Media Player, Media Jukebox, and so on.
If a program supports Libraries, it will immedi-
ately and automatically gain access to all your
content. A drawback here is that there is
currently no apparent way to exclude content
from being listed in a library, so sensitive data
also shows up with everything else.
Search
Search under this Beta is fixed in three ways: (1)
it’s fast, so we actually use it; (2) it takes up the
Above: Network and Sharing
edge. This can be used to compare and copy Maximised Window Center
data across different locations by dragging Left: Managing network
them to opposite sides of your screen. connections
Libraries icon next to the volume
The promise of WinFS to bring intelligence, rele- Playlists are auto populated by WMP control icon opens a
vance, and relation to your data was so badly pop-up. From here you
needed that we were extremely disappointed can open the Network
when the feature was unceremoniously and Sharing Center, get
dropped from Vista — likely to be never heard an overview of the
from again. Libraries, while nowhere near a rela- networks you are
tional database, somewhat takes the sting away connected to, and
from losing WinFS. The concept is simple — you connect and disconnect
have similar data spread across drives, folders, yourself over dial-up,
partitions, etc. — so why not logically store them VPN, or Wi-Fi. The
under a single virtual folder? Windows 7 Beta Network and Sharing
does just that and we’re thankful for it. You can Center is also stream-
thus have libraries collating pictures, videos, lined — letting you manage, setup, trou-
music, documents, and create and define your bleshoot your networks.
WMP taskbar preview
own libraries to boot. It’s a great way to store New to Windows 7 Beta is the HomeGroup,
and access information. Faster search relevant results which is exactly what it sounds like — you can
When you pin Windows Explorer to the pane and WMP will play a preview of that file — use it to connect your home PCs together,
taskbar, a right-click on its icon shows you your entire Start menu width, so it doesn’t look messy; only for music tracks. letting you share photos, music, videos and so
current libraries. These can be permanently (3) search results now expose pre-set filters that on. When you setup a HomeGroup, you can
pinned as well. Thus giving you access to your go a long way to refining a search query. Search Faster select the libraries and devices that you want
entire content straight from the taskbar itself. in general is now much more usable. Windows 7 Beta starts up faster — it also shuts to share. This group can be password-
Another welcome addition is that the library Libraries are shared down and restarts faster than our Vista protected, and you can set access permissions
is automatically shared across supported appli- across applications Windows Media Player Ultimate copy. Putting the Beta to sleep and as well. Computers must be running Windows
This is a much snappier avatar of WMP. It also waking it up is also a much faster and stable 7 to participate in a HomeGroup.
supports a wider range of codecs right off the experience. This mantra of faster, extends to
bat, although not enough to throw away your the entire OS as well. Aero no longer feels slug- Action Center
favourite codec pack. While playing music or gish to use. We’ve had mixed results copying This is where all those irritating pop-up
video files, WMP starts a minimal interface files across media — another common balloons have gone to die. Good riddance too.
showing just the media and playback controls complaint with Vista. At times, this is much Notifications are much more subdued under
— a no-nonsense approach that is appreciated. faster (took us an entire 120 seconds less to copy this Beta. No longer does it feel like the OS is
From the ‘Now Playing’ view you can switch to 8GB of files under Windows 7, as compared to screaming for attention every time a file
the more traditional Library view which breaks Vista). Similarly, it feels just as slow (note that stubs its toe. The Action Center is a tiny flag
down WMP into three panes. Left is where you the latter is not a scientific conclusion, just a icon sitting next to the volume and network
navigate through your libraries. Centre is where feeling). On the whole, if you were keeping icons on the taskbar. From here, you can
you find a library’s content, and on the right away from Vista because of its speed, Windows Take part in the review system messages and take steps to
you have a task pane. The right pane offers 7 Beta promises to fix that issue. Readers’ resolve pending issues. The Center breaks info
frequent tasks — Play, Burn and Sync. It’s a Survey down into two categories: Security, wherein
much cleaner interface that takes a while to get Networking on Page 78, and falls Firewall, Update, virus, spyware and
used to because old habits die hard... Notably, Right off the taskbar you can manage your win tonnes of similar settings; and Maintenance, where you
you can hover over a track’s name in the middle network connections. One click on a “network” exciting prizes can backup and restore data, and check for
24 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 25
Digital Passion l Cover Story
gadgets to your desktop. The irritating sidebar
is gone. But every time we dropped one, it
would simply disappear.
3. On-Screen keyboard. This is finally using
vector images and is thus scalable.
Moreover, it now offers text prediction and
text completion — making it a great feature
for those with weak eyes or for those too
lazy to walk to their physical keyboard.
Closing thoughts
Windows 7 Beta does all the right things. It
fixes what was broken, introduces some great
and useful features, runs faster, feels snap-
pier, and is reportedly less demanding on
hardware. It’s everything that Windows Vista
should have been. We would go as far as
Action Center saying that this Beta should have been a serv-
solutions to system and/or program crashes. ice pack to Windows Vista (and maybe some
The Action Center is also where the System features will indeed make it to SP2). While
Restore feature resides. Finally, we have the
Troubleshooting option, which is a surpris-
ingly useful (in that it actually solves issues,
no really, it does!) list of tasks and wizards to
handle everything from running a program
made for previous versions of Windows to
power management. It helped us run quite a
few irate programs...
Miscellany
1. Themes: Right-click on your desktop, select
Personalize and you will be able to change
sundry items that give your setup its identity
— colour, sounds, and the screensaver.
Moreover, you can select multiple images to
be used as your desktop wallpaper and tell
Windows to cycle through them after a Create and save a
theme
specific interval. Watching your desktop
change wallpapers (especially if they are cool
abstracts) every 30 seconds is very cool
indeed. You can also save your settings as a
theme. Very nice.
2. Gadgets: We would love to tell you more
about these, but no matter how hard we On Screen
tried, we could not get them to work. The Keyboard
change in this Beta is that you now drop
this Beta generally cleans up after Vista, we
would personally like to see more innovations
Get yer shortcut keys here
as we head towards the retail release.
New shortcuts to navigating Windows 7
Through Windows 7, Microsoft has
Win+Home Minimize all but the active window thought it wiser to clean the slate and release
Win+Space See through to the desktop anew, rather than try and salvage Vista’s
Win+Up arrow Maximize the active window tarnished reputation. That doesn’t change the
Win+Down arrow Minimize/restore the active window fact that Windows Vista users might feel
Win+Left/Right arrows Dock the window to each side of the monitor cheated. But isn’t that the nature of technol-
Win+Shift+Left+Right arrow Move the window to the adjacent monitor ogy? Early adopters beware. If nothing else,
(for dual-monitor setups). Windows 7 seems on track to fulfilling prom-
Win+T Focus and scroll through items on the taskbar ises made during the Longhorn era.
Win+P Adjust presentation settings for your display For that alone, we are excited to see more
of Windows 7. What can we say? Some
Win+(+/-) Zoom in/out
people never learn... I
Shift+Click a taskbar item Open a new instance of that application
ahmed.shaikh@thinkdigit.com
26 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Digital Passion l Insight
We tested a Nehalem processor, the i7 965
Extreme, a few months back and compared it to the
(then) fastest desktop processor in the world — the
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX 9770 (3.2 GHz). Needless to
say, the Core i7’s performance was at least 15 per
cent faster, 90 per cent of the time, in both real-
world tests and synthetic benchmarks. Not only
was the i7 significantly faster than any AMD
Phenom processor, it was also noticeably faster
than the fastest quad-core Intel Yorkfield processor
around. When you consider that the Core 2 archi-
tecture isn’t very old and Intel has been continu-
ously churning faster Core 2 processors, Nehalem
becomes something rather special.
One of the firsts for Intel in the desktop space is
that Nehalem is a native quad-core. Earlier, only AMD
offered native quad-cores with its Phenom X4 range.
Intel’s quad-core processors before the i7 were basi-
cally two dual-core CPUs slapped together on a single
die; a fact that has been of great interest to AMD, as
it has thumbed its nose rather regularly at what it
has called a Jurassic design. The market is, however,
more concerned with real-world performance rather
than on-paper specifications and the Core architec-
ture is much faster than anything AMD has been
able to conjure up. And now the newcomer is out
with promises of even more processing grunt. Of
course, AMD isn’t whittling sticks either — its
The
Return
Phenom 2 processors have just made an entry — but
they have a very tough opponent to beat.
Scalability
Intel claims to have designed the Core i7 with scal-
ability in mind and looking at its released block
King
diagrams we have to agree with them. In fact
of the everything about the i7 design is modu-
lar, and while the current Nehalem
CPUs are native quad-cores we could just
as easily see eight-core CPUs or even
dual-cores with integrated graphics, in
the future. The fact is that Nehalem is
designed from the ground up to be flex-
ible and Intel can easily add or remove
Michael Browne cores and other components as per
Intel’s i7 is market needs and demands. Nehalem
the new kid
E
ver since its Conroe architecture took the also resurrects an old trick — hyperthreading (HT) —
world by storm, Intel, the largest CPU in town. Sure which was dropped since the Pentium 4. Hyper-
manufacturer in the world has been on an threading is Intel’s name for simultaneous multi-
undeniable roll. AMD has been unable to hit
it’s fast; but threading (SMT), a process in which operations
back with anything concrete and competition it has its from more than one instruction thread can be
has been lean. Intel has even gone as far as prom- roots in the processed by a single processor core.
ising us something new in terms of processor past. We tell A quad-core Nehalem CPU can, therefore,
architecture every two years or so. In fact, many process eight threads, while an eight core
people have made much of Intel’s “tick-tock” you how and Nehalem will actually process a previously
development model: each tick represents a die- why… unheard of 16 threads. This gives the i7 much
shrink and each tock denotes a major architec- better multi-threaded performance while keeping
tural change. Late last year, Intel delivered the thermal envelopes and silicon requirements
latest tock in the form of the processor code- much lower than they would be, if additional
named Nehalem; finally given the marketable cores were added instead.
moniker of Core i7, with its processor family Doing more with less, seems to be Intel’s
dubbed “Bloomfield”. design motto for the i7. HT also means fewer
www. thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 27
Digital Passion l Insight Digital Passion l Insight Digital Passion l Insight
wasted clock cycles as each core has a much searching. Although this secondary predictor one CPU needs access to some data which is in
better chance of being kept busy due to the fact unit is slower than the primary unit, its ability another’s data pool the QPI link between both
that each core can be fed with two threads at a to correct incorrect predictions made at the the CPUs will come into play. This may result in
time, instead of a single thread. Nehalem’s first-level and thus prevent any core overtime some latency, but it should not be a lot. Obviously
cores are much faster than those in a Pentium should more than compensate for its reduced this won’t affect desktop users with a single CPU.
4, partly due to their being derived from the speed of operation. Then there is a buffer called One of the main talking points of the
much faster Core architecture and also due to the “Renamed Returned Stack Buffer” which Nehalem architecture is the QPI link itself. The
the much shorter execution pipeline; this ensures that correct data is pulled from the QPI is a point-to-point interface, so there’s no
means that HT on an i7 should be much more processor’s stack, even in the event of an incor- conflict of interests for bandwidth. The QPI is
efficient than HT was on the Pentium 4 CPUs. rect prediction. Therefore Nehalem beefs up the the means for cores to talk to each other. It also
Intel’s Penryn CPUs added support for SSE 4 chances of a hit, and minimises overhead and connects the CPU to the motherboard chipset
and Nehalem brings with it support for SSE 4.2. latency in case of a miss — a huge plus, to be and allows the CPU to talk with PCI Express,
The main additions with the new SSE instruc- sure. HT together with this two-stage branch USB, and SATA components. So far all the
tions are improved XML processing support, prediction should bring immense benefits Nehalem desktop CPUs that Intel has released
voice-recognition, error-detection code calcula- when working with multiple threads. The have a single QPI link. Server CPUs will have two
tion, and DNA sequencing. What we’re seeing branch prediction could also do wonders for links, with the second link allowing crosstalk
here is greater emphasis on achieving more single-threaded applications: Since each core’s between CPUs in multi-socket systems. The high-
performance per watt. While Nehalem CPUs have resources are shared according to the workload, est-end Nehalem, the i965 Extreme Edition, has
a higher TDP (Thermal Dissipation Point) than if two threads are pushed at a core then each of a link that allows 6.4 GT per second, (GT is an
Penryn at 130 watts versus 95 watts, Intel claims them gets one-half of the resources. If a single acronym for giga-transfer, yet another new
that the performance hike is more than propor- memory controller on the Northbridge. This is thread is to be executed, it gets the full atten- term!). The lower Nehalems have a QPI link that
tionate to the increased power requirement, or at where AMD fans will scream “copycat”. That’s not tion on the core it is pushed to, giving it greater allows 4.8 GT per second. The total bandwidth
worst, equal to it. In fact the Nehalem is designed all. Gone is the ancient, bi-directional Front-Side performance. While on the topic of parallelism, offered by each QPI is 25.6 gigabits per second
on the Atom processor ethos: that is to maintain Bus (FSB) in favour of what Intel calls “QuickPath Nehalem can execute more in-flight micro-ops and each consists of two 20-bit, bi-directional
a 2:1 ratio for increments in performance and Interconnect”, which is equivalent to AMDs Hyper than Penryn — the count is up from 96 to 128. links. Note that the total bandwidth of 25.6 giga-
power consumption figures at all times. Transport with a few differences. Intel had pretty Micro-ops, short for micro operations, are bits per second is double the bandwidth avail-
Nehalem is a native quad-core with four cores much reached the upper limits of what it could detailed low-level instructions issued to imple-
sitting on a single die. Unlike previous quad-cores, do with its FSB and with FSB frequencies ment complex machine instructions. So the i7 Nehalem CPUs
wherein two cores shared an L2 cache, i7 offers approaching 1,600 MHz, even faster memory has an increase in parallelism at the instruc-
Model Numbers -> i965 Extreme Edition i940 i920
each core discrete L1 and L2 caches, with an L3 could not alleviate the problem of keeping the tion level as well; a serious benefit when you
Fabrication Process 45 nm 45 nm 45 nm
cache in common. The Core i7 is made from a CPU fed with data from memory. In fact, it is the consider each core supports HT. Core Speed 3.2 GHz 2.93 GHz 2.66 GHz
budget of 731 million transistors. In comparison, IMC that resulted in the changed cache sizes on Socket LGA 1366 LGA 1366 LGA 1366
Yorkfield needed 820 million transistors. The die Nehalem, and not the other way around. Industry The IMC L2 Cache Size 256 KB x 4 256 KB x 4 256 KB x 4
size of Nehalem is larger though; increasing from experts have rightly criticised Intel for hiding the Now a little bit on that shiny new IMC. Intel’s IMC L3 Cache Size 8 MB 8 MB 8 MB
214 mm^2 to 263 mm^2. That’s fewer transistors huge memory latencies associated with having an supports three channels instead of two. So be QPI Speed (giga-transfers per sec) 6.4 4.8 4.8
and reduced density, which should bring thermal FSB-based interconnect between CPU and RAM by prepared to see i7 based motherboards with six Effective Multiplier 24 22 20
benefits. Nehalem has the same L1 cache as previ- adopting the brute force approach — increasing memory slots. This IMC supports only DDR3 and TDP 130 watts 130 watts 130 watts
ous Yorkfield CPUs: a 32 KB instruction cache and the processor cache to sometimes crazy levels. up to 24 GB of RAM. This is good for server config-
32 KB data cache per core, but the L2 cache is Obviously this is an inefficient, not to mention urations or workstations needing more than 8 GB able on the 1,600 MHz FSB of Intel’s X48 chipset.
significantly smaller. Each core in a quad-core costly approach. Now, thanks to the IMC, Intel can of RAM. Although the IMC doesn’t support the In a truly modular fashion, Intel can add more
Nehalem CPU gets only 256 kB (1 MB in total), make Nehalem shine with a relatively small L2 fastest DDR3 memory, it doesn’t need to. Firstly, QPI’s to a Nehalem CPU if the need arises.
while Yorkfield CPUs had as much as 3 MB of L2 cache. Another trick is the inclusion of a new the theoretical bandwidth that tri-channel The clock speed of all Nehalem CPUs is a
cache per core. There is a single 8 MB of L3 cache secondary Translation Look-Aside Buffer (TLB); memory configurations offer, even at memory derivative of the base QPI clock which is 133
to which all cores have access. earlier CPUs made do with a single TLB. The TLB is speeds of 1,333 MHz, is higher than a dual-chan- MHz. This is much lower than the FSB speeds
a CPU cache that is used by memory management nel configuration running memory clocked at of previous CPUs from Intel; where the base
Copycat? hardware (like the IMC) to improve the speed of 1,800 MHz. Besides greater bandwidth than all FSB clock was 333 MHz, or even 400 MHz.
Now why did Intel make a high-end CPU with a virtual address translation. Intel also copies previous Intel systems, the IMC on each i7 CPU Therefore all Nehalem CPUs have much
fraction of the L2 cache? And why introduce an L3 AMD’s way of designating the specific processor ensures that latencies will be minimal. In fact, higher multipliers. The L3 cache and the IMC
cache which we know is slower than any L2 cache? regions and the Nehalem is divided into two parts slower memory also means tighter timings — operate on a difference clock called the un-
The answer is one of the most radical architec- termed as “core” and the rather awkward “un- which we’ve seen as more conducive to perform- core clock. This figure is 20X the base QPI
tural differences between Core i7 and Core 2 — the core”. The core includes the physical CPU cores ance than higher memory clock speeds. All this clock i.e. 2.66 GHz. This is similar to AMD’s
inclusion of an on-die memory controller or inte- and L1 and L2 caches while the un-core consists of will sound very familiar to most people following Phenom design where multiple clocks are
grated memory controller (IMC). Gone is the everything else on the chip, including the L3 processor technology over the past five years — used for different parts. In terms of power-
cache and IMC. this is exactly what AMD told us about its management Nehalem differs as well: While
Nehalem vs. Penryn: cache and memory The branch prediction mechanism of the memory controller — theoretical bandwidth Phenom allows each core to request different
Nehalem Penryn (Yorkfield) Core i7 has also seen a significant change. A doesn’t matter as much when using an IMC clock speeds, incidentally the reason why one
L1 Size / L1 Latency 64 KB / 4 cycles 64 KB / 3 cycles second-level branch predictor with a much because most of the increased bandwidth gets needs to install the AMD Cool’n’Quiet driver;
L2 Size / L2 Latency 256 KB / 11 cycles 12 MB / 15 cycles larger data set and a deeper history has been wasted with FSB latencies. It seems Intel was the Nehalem attempts to run all cores at the
L3 Size / L3 Latency 8 MB / 39 cycles NA added to the prediction unit in all Core 2 listening to AMD as well. Thanks to the IMC, same clock speed at all times. The only excep-
Main Memory Latency * 107 cycles (33.4 nano sec) 160 cycles / 50.3 nano sec processor cores. The deeper history in conjunc- multi-CPU systems based on Nehalem processors tion being when Turbo Mode (see below) is
* Using DDR3 1600 MHz (CAS Latency 7) tion with the larger data set allows for broader will consist of a dedicated RAM pool per CPU. If enabled. In other words, if a particular core
28 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www. thinkdigit.com www. thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 29
Digital Passion l Insight
isn’t being used it’s simply power gated and new motherboard coupled with the high prices
effectively turned off. of DDR3 means Nehalem may find few takers in
price sensitive markets (such as India). As of now,
Turbo mode How would you the X58 platform is the only one available,
Talking about multipliers brings around the spend your although NVIDIA has obtained the necessary
inevitable topic of overclocking. A decade back, day at Digit? license from Intel and we could see NVIDIA
just the mention of overclocking was enough to Turn to boards supporting i7 soon. Intel also claims that
get people at Intel all riled up. But with Page 78 future eight-core Nehalems will also be designed
Nehalem, Intel is in one sense, encouraging it. and plan your for socket 1366; this is serious longevity for the
The i7 supports a feature called “Turbo Mode” all expense platform although whether it keep its promise
(TM). A processor will be rated to operate within paid trip! remains to be seen. The mess of platforms for
certain constraints — a maximum temperature, different processors in the Pentium 4 / Pentium D
current and power consumption. If Turbo era is all too fresh in our minds — we hope the
Boost is enabled, and if the processor’s on-die 1366-pin socket stays awhile; else early adopters
Power Control Unit, which monitors the ther- will surely have sufficient grounds for complain.
mal condition and power usage of the cores,
indicates that it is running within these Parallelism
constraints, one or more cores will start to oper- It seems Intel deliberately chose features that
ate at higher clock speeds, enabling higher would ensure it excels in the server domain —
performance for the threads they are executing. which has, by far, been its Achilles’ Heel over the
When cores are clocked-up in this way, steps of past two years. In fact, a number of tricks under
133.33 MHz are used — the base frequency Nehalem’s 45nm hood won’t even be noticed
mentioned earlier. When this increase in clock unless the i7 is used in multi-socket servers. Most
speed occurs will depend on the conditions inside of these tricks involve parallelism and of course
the machine, most particularly the cooling more effective caches and prediction systems.
system. The more efficient the cooling, the more Developers for desktops need to get cracking on
likely that clock speeds will increase. The most getting their applications more and more multi-
likely situation for Turbo Boost to be effective will threaded because this is where the i7 will shine
be when a single- or dual-threaded compute inten- and future processors will follow suit. Regardless
sive application is running, with little demand on of intent, the i7 offers a nice performance boost
the other cores. In that case, the core running the across applications in the desktop space as well.
main thread is very likely to be clocked up, with Gaming, 3D rendering, and video encoding are
the other cores not running, thereby reducing the three biggest beneficiaries. In fact it even
power consumption and heat dissipation. delivers improved performance on a core-to-core
This feature addresses the one criticism of basis — so Intel has another architectural winner.
multi-core processors: that not all compute Just when we thought it couldn’t get much
intensive applications have the inherent paral- better Intel throws us a few more delightful
lelism that can benefit from multiple cores, surprises. Eight-core Nehalems could reach
and that such processors give no performance markets by the end of 2009. We’ve also heard
improvement for single-threaded applications. that Intel plans to introduce a new Bloomfield-
With Turbo Boost enabled, such an application derivative family named “Lynnfield”. Identical
can gain extra performance through the to i7; these CPUs sacrifice the QPI for a more
increased clock speed of the core on which it is traditional DMI and also forego tri-channel
running. This is perhaps the most important DDR3 for a dual-channel setup. These CPUs will
feature expressing the scalability that Intel utilise a 1156-pin socket and here’s the killer —
claims to have built into this new architecture. there’s an on-package PCI Express controller
that supports 16 PCI Express lanes. Yes, the
Cheap thrills PCIe lanes are on the CPU itself! These 16 lanes
At the outset, it’s evident that Intel adopted a can be used as a single x16 connect or two x8
very cost-centric approach to designing the i7. It connects. Intel has also discussed “Havendale”
clearly draws on the best points of their previous which is a dual-core variant with 4 MB of L3
architectures and with a borrowed trick or two, cache. These CPUs will be the first Intel CPUs to
manages to raise the performance bar consider- have a graphics core integrated as part of the
ably. Partly inspired by the Atom design, the i7 CPU package. It also has the 16 lane PCI Express
has a very low die-area cost. We found Nehalem to controller from Lynnfield, but it cannot be run
be around 20 per cent faster than its predecessor as two X8 connects. Of course, Lynnfield is still
and all this on a new platform that is bound to a good four months or so from market; while
see optimisations and further performance incre- Havendale won’t debut till 2010. The only thing
ments. The LGA 1366 should be a good system to better than living in interesting times is the
invest in for those looking at a powerful desktop knowledge that the best is yet to come! I
processor; yet the costs related to purchasing a michael.browne@thinkdigit.com
30 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www. thinkdigit.com
Drool Thegoodstuff Stufftolustafter Stuffforthewell-moneyed
Maal
Cloud Black
Polaroid PoGo Square-Enixisgoingtoreleaseanumbered,
ThePolaroidisback,withawholenewdigital limitededitionversionoftheSonyPS3.The
avatarofitsfamousinstant-printcameras.The FinalFantasyVIIthemedPS3iscalledthe
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Ifyoudon’tgetyourhandsononeofthose,
abrandnewonewillsetyoubackbya
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Sennheiser HD 800
TheGermancompanyhasintroducedanewset
ofheadphonesthatisfastbecomingthenew
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of6to51,000Hz,andoxygenfreecabling,
theheadphonesaremadetopleaseyouwith
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TheinnovativepeopleatTokyoFlashneverseemtostop someinnovativenewpatentedengineering,
intheirruthlesscampaigntodesignoutrageouswatches. includinganewtypeoftransducerandaring
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32 DIGIT February 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT February 2009 33
Digital Passion l Main Story Digital Passion l Main Story
Digit: What were the kind of mission-specific require-
The Chandrayaan-1 Spacecraft
Chandrayaan in the visible, near-infrared, microwave and
ments that were factored in designing the Terrain
Mapping Camera? What is the image resolution of
on-board cameras like the TMC?
IRSO: The aim of the Terrain Mapping Camera is
to completely map the topography of the moon.
The camera works in the visible region of the
CENA
SWIM
MIP
(Moon Impact Probe)
(Solar-Wind Monitor)
(Chandrayaan
Energetic Neutral
RADOM
(Radiation Dose Monitor)
SIR-2
(Infrared Spectrometer)
X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spec- electromagnetic spectrum and captures black- Analyzer) LLRI
trum. With this, preparation of a 3D atlas and-white stereo images. It scans a strip of lunar (Lunar Laser Ranging
and chemical mapping of entire lunar surface which is 20 km wide with a resolution of Instrument)
surface is being carried out. Some really 5 m. Such high-resolution imaging helps in HEX TMC
(High-Energy X-ray (Terrain Mapping
fancy equipment like the Terrain Mapping better understanding of the lunar evolution
Spectrometer) Camera)
Camera (TMC), Lunar Laser Ranging process, as well as in the detailed study of the
Instrument (LLRI), and some other spectral regions of scientific interest. When used in HySI CIXS
and X-ray imaging instruments were loaded conjunction with data from Lunar Laser Ranging (Hyper Spectral (Chandrayaan-1 X-
Imager) ray Spectrometer)
on to the Chandrayaan. Instruments (LLRI), it can help in better under-
Mini-SAR M3
The mission has certainly achieved some standing of the lunar gravitational fields as well. (Moon Mineralogy
remarkable feats. The first one that comes to (Miniature Synthetic
Aperture Radar) Mapper)
mind is more economic than scientific. The Digit: How was the mission accomplished on such a
entire mission was pulled off in a compara- low budget?
tively humble budget of Rs 386 crores. Great! ISRO: The total budget for Chandrayaan-1 proj- remote sensing services and communication
But some questions remain unanswered — ect was Rs 386 crores, out of which about Rs 100 satellites has drawn the attention the world.
why would you want to go to the moon in the crores was spent on the Deep Space Network,
first place? Didn’t the space race die out with which has 32-m and 18-m antennas which can Digit: What kind of future surface missions can we
the Cold War? Agreed, the innate human be used for Chandrayaan-I as well as future expect post Chandrayaan-I? Is Chandrayaan the first
desire for exploration is undeniable, but missions. The Chandrayaan-I mission was step in setting up a future moon base? Is a mission to
there have to be some real tangible benefits. accomplished within the budget by optimal Mars on the cards?
Well we decided to find out through a one-on- utilisation of human resources, infrastructure ISRO: Following Chandrayaan-I, ISRO has plans
one round with the scientists at ISRO. And and good planning. to launch Chandrayaan-II around 2011-12,
while we were at it, we bombarded them with carrying a lander and rover to collect samples
a host of other questions regarding the tech- Digit: What exactly is the Indian Deep Space Network on the lunar surface and analyse the chemical
nology used, breakthroughs achieved, and (IDSN)? How does it counter any time delays? composition of the lunar soil. Studies have
future plans. ISRO: The Indian Deep Space Network performs been initiated for undertaking an unmanned
the important task of receiving radio signals mission to Mars.
Digit: What were the motives behind the mission? transmitted by Chandrayaan-I spacecraft that
Why would we need a detailed topographic mapping become incredibly feeble by the time they reach Digit: What is the significance of India being one of
of the moon, and why analyse the lunar surface for the Earth. Besides, it can send commands to the four countries to have its flag on the moon?
mineral deposits? spacecraft at a power level of up to 20 KW. The ISRO: When the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) with
ISRO: The primary objectives of Chandrayaan- IDSN consists of two large parabolic antennas, Indian tricolor painted on its surface impacted
Siddharth Parwatay India is only the I are: i) upgrade India’s technological capabil- one with an 18-m, and the other 32-m diameter the lunar soil, India became the fourth country
fourth country ities, ii) expand scientific knowledge about at Byalalu, situated about 35 km from to land a man-made object on the lunar surface.
C
handrayaan-I, India’s first mission to the moon, iii) provide challenging opportuni- Bangalore. Of these, the 32-m antenna with its This is a significant achievement as the mission
the moon was launched on October
to have its flag ties for planetary research to the younger ‘seven mirror beam waveguide system’ was involved travelling a distance of 400,000 kilo-
22nd, 2008. At the time of going to on the lunar generation of Indian scientists. Outer space indigenously designed, developed, built, metres performing crucial manoeuvres to place
press, the mission has seen no major glitches surface! will be the next frontier of exploration for installed, tested and qualified. The 18-m the satellite in lunar orbit and impacting lunar
and has been near flawless, and we hope it mankind. The Moon will form an intermedi- antenna can support the Chandrayaan-I lunar soil at predetermined place with great accuracy.
stays that way. It has already beamed back to ate base for undertaking exploration of outer mission, while the 32-m antenna can support
earth around 40,000 postcard-size high-defini- space. There is a need to identify the presence any spacecraft mission deeper into space. Concluding thoughts
tion images of the moon. Soon, some 70 scien- of water to support astronauts undertaking Although we were quite eager to know some
tists from across the globe are expected to deep space flights, and for using water by Digit: How would the Indian space programme details regarding the computer technology
pour over these images to unravel the myster- breaking up into hydrogen and oxygen as a compare to NASA in terms of technology? used in the mission, such as processor, comput-
ies of the moon. possible source of propellant for future ISRO: India is on par with the best in the world ing power, AI (if any), unfortunately, IRSO was
Overall, the mission had three objectives. missions. There is also a need to exploit in the area of satellite technology. India has the pretty tight-lipped.
You can’t take a trip
The primary objectives of the mission are to minerals and chemicals available on the lunar largest constellation of remote sensing and We’re assuming that this may be sensitive
to the moon just yet,
expand the scientific knowledge about the surface. Preparation of a detailed topographic communication satellites in the Asia-Pacific information, or just national trade secrets, which
origin and evolution of moon, upgrade map is essential to understand different region in civilian sector. ISRO is considered a but you can we obviously do not want to share with the
India’s technological capabilities, and terrains of the Moon. Chandrayaan-I also aims leader in the application of space technology see a few stars world. Stay tuned to this space, and we will try
provide challenging opportunities to young to look at the presence of Helium 3 on the for the benefit of mankind and national devel- on your way to our and get continued updates about Chandrayaan,
scientists working in the planetary sciences. lunar surface, which can be used as a fuel in opment. The social applications such as tele- Mumbai office. and future missions, as our nations flag is
These objectives are to be achieved through nuclear reactors that can be useful in solving medicine and tele-education conceived by ISRO Details on carried proudly into outer space. I
high resolution remote sensing of the moon the power requirements on Earth. and the setting up of village resource centres, Page 78 siddharth.parwatay@thinkdigit.com
44 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www. thinkdigit.com www. thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 45
Digital Passion l Main Story Digital Passion l Main Story
3G
How does 3G compare with the available
technology?
3G is a substantial enhancement over the
current 2G technology, and is capable of facil-
itating high-speed internet access and data
transfer. Adoption of 3G in India would
involve substantial improvement in the exist-
ing cell phones to be able to support 3G serv-
and
ices. The idea of launching 2.5G services was
also considered due to the difficulty of
moving over from 2G to 3G. But the delay in
launching advanced telecom services and
WiMAX
launch of phones with 3G capabilities made
the choice easier.
High speed digital packet switching
The Generation Gap: 3G versus its siblings networks are the source of the high speed
Generation Switching Data type Period of Standards offered by 3G. Compared to the traditional
technology launch circuit switching technology, packet switching
1G Circuit switching Analog 1980 AMPS
offers better transmission bandwidth utilisa-
2G Circuit switching Digital Early 90s “TDMA, CDMA, GSM”
tion, and hence higher data transfer rates.
2.5G Circuit switched for High speed Early 21st “GPRS, EDGE, 1xRTT”
access network & packet digital century Additionally, advance multiplexing techniques
switched for core network add to network speed.
3G Packet switched Digital 2003 “WCDMA,
broadband CDMA-2000” Packet switching vs. circuit switching
Nishant Raman of advanced telecommunication services was Circuit switching involves dedicated link creation
proposed in the tenth five year plan, paving 1-G technology involves the use of analogue between two phones during a call leading to redundan-
cies & high waiting time
I
ndia has seen rapid technological growth in the way for funding and resource allocation radio signals for communication. Voice data is
recent times, especially in the areas of infor- for 3G services in the annual budget of the modulated to a high frequency (usually beyond
In packet switching data is transmitted in the form of
mation technology and communication. Department of Telecommunication (DoT). The 150 MHz) for transmission. Information trans- encrypted digital data packets through the least
Telecommunication has led the charge in the electronic auctioning of the 3G spectrum is fer between telephone towers takes place in the congested route / nodes reducing redundancy in the
area of consumer technology with rapid pene- planned to take place in two phases on 16th form of digital signals. process
tration of mobile telephony amongst the January and 19th February, according to a 2-G differs from 1-G in the use of digital
masses. India is already one of the largest DoT directive. This fresh initiative should voice signals for communication. The analogue
consumers of mobile phones, with an average pave the way for a wide range of products and voice data is encoded into digital signals for What changes can be expected due to 3G?
nine million users being added every month. mobile services being made available to the transmission. The emergence of 3G is likely to act as catalyst
The telecom tariff rates offered in India are High speed Indian consumer. 3G will facilitate high-speed for enhanced product and services. Creative
among the lowest in the world. mobile internet access through mobile phones and Differences between the three technologies solutions evolving around user benefits are
3G and WiMAX are the latest inclusions to connectivity is provide mobility to a large number of services expected to emerge.
1G 2G 3G
the mobile and internet communication fold, such as video conferencing, gaming, and large
promising to take user-experience to a higher
coming to downloads.
1G technology was the 2G technology brought in "Launched in 2001, the 3G
Quality of text, audio and video communica-
starting block in mobile energy efficient digital services have brought in I
level through interactivity, greater convenience, India Currently, the 2.1 GHz band is to be telephony offering quality communication systems high quality service and tion would improve through:
improved access, and quality of services offered. auctioned for launching 3G services in India. voice service facilitating smaller substantial user G Technology supporting more real-time, and
handsets and price convenience, but involve
This article aims to capture the essence of these License winners are expected to roll out 3G reduction considerable investment next to real quality communication
two technologies, analyze their impact on services in 90 per cent of metro areas and 50 in technology for service G Enhanced mobility and roaming
communication, and to conduct a comparative per cent in other areas given to them (with a Analogue voice service Digital encryption of providers" G High quality e-mail and internet access
assessment of relevance, and hence acceptabil- minimum 15 per cent rural coverage). This conversation I 3G would enable heavy video broadcast
High speed internet on
ity, of the two to the masses. coverage is expected by the end of the fifth (video conferencing, video lectures and
Better sound quality than Better data security phones
year, after spectrum allocation. 2G over long distance virtual classrooms, video sharing, etc.) and
3G The 450 MHz band is currently being
utilized for radio communication, while the
calls Optimal spectrum
utilization
Video communication data-intensive services (such as online moni-
toring/surveillance, e-commerce, online
Launch of 3G in India 800 and 1,900 MHz bands are used for military Heavy data transfer education, telemedicine, music/software/data
No data service Start of data services like services
Doors are opening for the launch of the much communication purposes. They will be SMS download, online gaming, etc.)
awaited 3G service in India. The introduction auctioned when they become free. Quality and interactivity I High-end, light, feature intensive, and easy-to-
Limited e-mail access of services use terminals would come into the market
Table 1 What is 3G? with creative interfaces designed to suit
Slow speed internet Enhanced roaming
Frequency band Availability Freq block size Uplink Downlink “Third Generation wireless telecommunication customer preferences.
access
frequency frequency technology”, or 3G, is an advanced radio commu- Strong network security
2.1 GHz 3 Available 2 x 5 MHz 1920-1980 MHz 2110-2170 MHz nication technology which provides a marriage 14.4-43.2 kilobits/sec data Additionally, the strong business opportuni-
450 MHz 4 Proposed 2 x 1.25 MHz Undecided Undecided transfer 144 Kbits/sec (high speed
of high-speed internet access and high-quality ties around 3G are expected to attract a large
800 MHz Proposed 2 x 1.25 MHz Undecided Undecided mobile) & 2 Mbits/sec
mobile telephony. The technology enables simul- number of players offering choice, affordability
1900 MHz Proposed 2 x 1.25 MHz 1900-1910 MHz 1980-1990 MHz (stationary mobile) 7
taneous voice and non-voice data transfer. and quality to the consumer.
36 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www. thinkdigit.com www. thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 37
Digital Passion l Main Story Digital Passion l Main Story
How has been the acceptability in other cation, and hence to grab and maintain a the third of its kind across the globe after
countries? substantial market share. Some of the possible USA and Taiwan.
Japan was the first country to test and imple- new areas of communication standard evolu- According to the WiMAX forum, the
ment 3G. The acceptability has been good for 3G Speaking of next tion can be: market for WiMAX in India, which includes
there, with internet access, gaming and music generation I Universal networking: development of archi- device and service sales, will reach $13 billion
download being some of the prominent applica- technology, why tectures and middleware that support univer- by the year 2012. The forum pegs the number
tions. The objective of launching 3G in Japan read about it, when sal networking between all communication of WiMAX users by 2012 at 27.5 million, an
and Korea was to develop an internal communi- you can devices leading to smooth communication approximate 20 per cent share of the world’s
cation network and hence the access charges for experience it and data/application transfer from one device total WiMAX user base at that time. According
service providers were kept low, resulting in low when you to another. to independent research by Maravedis, a
3G charges on consumers, and hence greater visit our Test I Customized services: the user would have the market research firm, the subscriber base for
popularity and acceptance. 3G has done well in Center. power over which function can be served by WiMAX in India is expected to reach 21
most countries due to its good features. It has which device (one device acting as the central million by the year 2014.
Flip to
been successfully launched and is being oper- controller for all other devices the user owns, Leading global WiMAX companies, such as
ated in more than 50 countries currently.
Page 78 music being played on one device while video Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola and Samsung, are
On the other hand, the financial perform- and find out how. on another, etc.) starting their operations in India. Nokia has
ance of 3G operators has been poor in some I Higher network speeds: with better band- announced the launch of its first ever WiMAX-
regions due to high debts on service providers or width utilization and multiplexing technolo- enabled phone which is scheduled to be
high-access charges; especially in Europe. The gies, network speeds are expected to go up, launched in India.
actual performance of 3G in most places has been enabling on-the-fly data transfer from one
lower than the specified speed standards and has device to another. What is WiMAX?
caused dissatisfaction among consumers, lead- I Other auxiliary services: other features and WiMAX, or “Worldwide Interoperability for
ing to lower acceptance rates for the service. services, such as heightened network security Microwave Access”, is a broadband wireless
through Bluetooth device-based protection, point-to-multipoint specification from the
What are the major concerns involving 3G? identification services, information services IEEE 802.16 working group, enabling wireless
3G rollout in many countries has resulted in customized to user preferences, centralized broadband networks with high speed. Leaps
factors hindering acceptance of service among billing, etc would come up with the evolution and bounds ahead of WiFi, WiMAX is
consumers and profitability of service of communication technology. designed to operate as a wireless metropoli-
providers; India would do well to learn from I 4G: An upgrade over the current 3G system tan-area network. Evolution of WiMAX
them. Additionally, we foresee certain issues involving some advanced features, such as WiMAX promises faster and superior Specification Description
the operators are likely to face in India: better spectrum utilization, greater network performance, adaptability to various applica- 802.16-2001 LOS access in 10-66 GHz spectrum
802.16c-2002 Improved QoS; support for HIPERMAN
speed, more simultaneous users per cell tions, advanced IP-based architecture (enabling
802.16a-2003 Added 2-10 GHz to existing standards
I High revenue expectations from 3G services phone, better inter-operability across hetero- integration of various applications with the 802.16d-2004 Fixed WiMAX; supported OFDMA 256
resulted in high input fee/access charges geneous networks, etc. internet) and reduced rates to consumers. 802.16e-2005 Mobile WiMAX; enhanced OFCDMA
levied on service providers for 3G service multiplexing
licenses.
WiMAX WiMAX specifications 802.16f-2006 Information base management
I The price of 3G mobile services (including Parameter Value 802.16g-2007 Mobility management
internet access) was kept excessively high in Launch of WiMAX in India Range: Line-of-sight (LOS) ~50 Km HIPERMAN Equivalent of 802.16 in Europe
some countries, especially Europe, reducing The stage is set for the launch of WiMAX in Range: Non-line-of-sight (NLOS) ~10 Km WiBro Equivalent of 802.16 in Korea
Maximum data speed ~70 Mbps
the attractiveness of the 3G offering. India with the finalisation of dates for the
Licensed frequency band 2-11 GHz
I Heavy upfront capital investment is required auction of the 2.5 / 3 GHz spectrum by the (Scalable Orthogonal Frequency Division
Un-licensed frequency band 10-66 GHz
for developing local infrastructure capable of Department of Telecommunciation (DoT). The Switching Packet Multiple Access), an enhancement over
supporting 3G services in any country. 3G and WiMAX spectrums are scheduled to be Multiplexing SOFDMA OFDMA256 which facilitates non-line-of-sight
I 3G phones are more expensive compared to auctioned during January and February 2009. Modulation "BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, communication. SOFDMA also brings in better
2G and other lower-end phones, making the 64QAM" throughput and minimized sound fading in
switch to 3G financially unfavourable for The timetable Source: http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/16/ multiple path scenarios.
common consumers, especially in India. Date Action
Dec 11 & 13 2008 Bidders meet
I In India a substantial proportion of the popu- WiMAX supports a range of modulation What are the key highlights of WiMAX?
Dec 19 2008 Pre-bid conference
lation does not require 3G voice and data serv- algorithms to facilitate the realization of opti- WiMAX has some important features that have
Dec 31 2008 Last date of submitting applications
ices in hand-held devices; this would limit the Jan 05 2009 Pre-qualification of bidders mal bandwidth in all conditions. The theoret- attracted the attention of the whole informa-
spread of 3G in the short term. Jan 16 2009 First phase of auctioning ical maximum data bandwidth of 75Mbps can tion and communication community ranging
I Health impact of electromagnetic waves Feb 09 2009 Second phase of auctioning be achieved with WiMAX using 64QAM 3/4 from internet operators and mobile telecom
would always remain a cause for concern. modulation (only under optimal transmission operators to fixed line telecom service
I There is a general lack of awareness about 3G In a recent announcement, the India conditions). providers, and so on. The attraction of possible
services even among the educated population chapter of the WiMAX Forum has made Fixed WiMAX is limited to providing wire- gains in the future has brought many technol-
in India. It would take time for 3G services to public its plans to set up an applications lab less network access to fixed devices, a limita- ogy firms into the WiMAX fold:
pick up, as has been the case globally. at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), tion eradicated by mobile WiMAX. WiMAX does
Delhi. In view of the high business potential not have the need for a direct line of sight I IP-based network: WiMAX specifications are
What’s ahead for 3G? of the Indian market, the WiMAX community between the source and endpoint of communi- developed over IP and support IP-based appli-
Organizations worldwide are involved in a race places high importance on India; this is cation/data transfer, unlike most other wireless cations. The need to unify various communi-
to develop the next level of wireless communi- evident from the plan to set up this lab, only technologies. Mobile WiMAX supports SOFDMA cation networks and to cut costs has inspired
38 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www. thinkdigit.com www. thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 39
Digital Passion l Main Story Digital Passion l Main Story
to Wi-Fi being limited to providing access only I High speed data and telecom services: nologies, the possibilities are rife that WiMAX
within a shop or a floor of a building, while WiMAX specifications can be used by telecom would be used to develop higher generation
WiMAX in comparison can cover much wider operators to design high speed communica- data and communication technologies like 4G.
spaces. tion and data services for consumers. For instance, the US based telecom firm
I Optimal bandwidth utilization: advanced I Providing Nomadic connectivity: Mobile Qualcomm has been pushing a standard for 4G
multiplexing provides better bandwidth WiMAX would make it possible to provide known as 802.20, based on OFDMA, a multi-
utilization in WiMAX compared to WiFi. good connectivity to communication devices plexing standard developed for WiMAX.
I Higher speeds: Wi-Fi hotspots are typically in motion. Further new technologies like 802.20
backhauled over ADSL. Due to this, Wi-Fi I Connectivity systems for disaster situations: Mobile-Fi are expected to emerge challenging
access has poor upload speeds between the during disasters and calamities physical infra- existing standards and providing better
router and the internet compared to WiMAX. structure can become damaged, limiting performance in terms of bandwidth, speed,
Additionally, no traffic prioritization leads to connectivity in critical situations. WiMAX reduced latency, encryption (noise reduction &
farther systems being made to wait longer connectivity can be vital in such conditions. security), et al.
than the ones close by in a Wi-Fi network. I Physical infrastructure substitution: high
Proper scheduling in WiMAX standards takes
care of this issue.
speed data backhaul through WiMAX can
lead to the transformation of many data
3G vs. WiMAX
I Limited hardware and manpower require- intensive services by the substitution of the Comparison of existing wireless
ment: to service an area covered by WiMAX physical hardware by wireless connectivity. communication technologies
using Wi-Fi networks would need a large For example, Internet Protocol Television The communications space has seen an array of
firms globally to shift telephony to VoIP, number of hotspots to be created through (IPTV) can substitute traditional cable-based wireless technologies, each bringing in a new
enhancing the importance of WiMAX. The routers. This necessitates a much higher TV, backhaul for Wi-Fi hotspots can shift set of characteristics and raising performance
shift to IP-based network enables much easier manpower and hardware requirement for Wi- from DSL, evolution of mobile data TV, emer- standards. 3G, WiMAX, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, are
and cheaper network monitoring and manage- Fi compared to WiMAX which only requires a gency response services, wireless backhaul as the prominent ones.
ment with standard tools for telecom opera- tower to be installed. substitute for fibre-optic cable, etc. In terms of data transmission capabilities,
tors. I Noise reduction: with stronger encryp- WiMAX leaves all the currently available wire-
I Flatter and simpler topology: a data tion/modulation, WiMAX performs better in What are the major concerns about less technologies far behind. LTE, a technology
network by design, WiMAX has a more noisy conditions. WiMAX? being backed by Ericsson, is similar to WiMAX
simple topology compared to cellular I Security: with enhanced encryption, Despite the mentioned advantages and the busi- and is expected to surpass WiMAX in terms of
networks which have undergone layer addi- WiMAX offers better security than Wi-Fi ness potential, there are several potential issues performance in future.
tions to accommodate data transmission networks which have been notorious for and roadblocks for a WiMAX rollout in India:
capabilities. WiMAX also requires less time security breaches.
and fewer hardware, investment and human I Spectrum Allocations Issues: globally, the roll-
Data Capacities of wireless technologies
120
resource to set up than traditional cellu- What are the potential applications out of WiMAX in many nations has been
Uplink Downlink
lar/Wi-Fi infrastructures, resulting in lower of WiMAX? delayed due to the required frequency bands 100
service costs for end users. WiMAX also The bandwidth, reach and IP-based topology of being occupied for other applications. The situ-
provides the capability to scale up and down WiMAX make it suitable for a large number of ation was similar in India with a substantial 80
according to the application requirements. potential applications. Some of the possible portion of the required frequency being used
I Adaptability to a wide range of applications: applications of WiMAX which stand to trans- by the military. With the recently planned 60
Rev A
with its IP-based architecture, WiMAX form the way the whole information and auctions for WiMAX the roadblocks seem to be
40
supports a wide range of communication and communication business operates globally are: lifting.
data transfer applications. WiMAX also I Market downturn: due to the recent
20
provides the possibility of transforming the I Shifting telephony to VoIP: globally, fixed- economic downturn, firms may find it diffi-
way a large number of services such as inter- line telecom players are losing market share cult to pull in financial resources to make the 0
net, telephony, cable TV, etc. are currently to mobile operators. WiMAX provides an necessary investments for WiMAX rollout. 802.16e HIPERMAN WiBro UMTS W- HSDPA + UMTS-TDD LTE UTMS 1xRTT BV-DO 1x Rev A
CDMA HSUPA Rev.0
provided to consumers. opportunity for these players to transform I Other technologies: availability of existing Source: http://www.palowireless.com/i802_16/wimax.asp
I Inexpensive interface: the costs involved in their cable-based systems to IP-based VoIP technologies and required investments may
migrating existing hardware to WiMAX are system and provide additional high-speed deter many firms from making the shift to
low, owing to the low prices of the required data services. WiMAX. Additionally, the long delayed 3G Comparison of 3G and WiMAX
chipsets and interfacing devices. I Last mile broadband connectivity: WiMAX is would also compete for market share in India, Both 3G and WiMAX have been touted as the
the ideal technology for providing a wireless possibly leading to restricted growth for next big hopes for the communications sector
How does WiMAX compare with WiFi? alternative to cable and DSL for last mile WiMAX. and particularly telecommunications technol-
Even though a large number of comparisons are broadband access to direct consumers. I Performance Issues: In addition, some of the ogy. Globally, 3G has been present in the
made between WiMAX and WiFi, the similari- I Connecting remote locations: remote loca- frequencies utilized by WiMAX are subject to market for a period of time and has acquired a
ties are limited when compared to the perform- tions with limited telecom infrastructure and interference from rainfade. The unlicensed market share, while WiMAX is still a very recent
ance differences between these two technolo- sparse populations can be financially infeasi- WiMAX frequencies are subject to RF interfer- phenomenon which has had limited deploy-
gies. WiMAX provides a wide range of advan- ble when connected through physical wire- ence from competing technologies and ments across the globe. A comparative analysis
tages over Wi-Fi: based infrastructure. WiMAX provides a viable competing WiMAX networks. of both follows:
option to provide connectivity in these areas
I Wider reach: Wi-Fi is short range (30-100 I Connecting Wi-FI hotspots: WiMAX can be What’s ahead for WiMAX? I Existing infrastructure: in many nations
metres) compared to WiMAX, which provides used to connect various Wi-Fi hotspots with Keeping in mind the technical superiority of large telecom players have invested heavily in
a coverage radius of about 50 kms. This leads each other and to other parts of the internet. WiMAX over other wireless networking tech- 3G technology in the last few years, creating
40 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www. thinkdigit.com www. thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 41
Digital Passion l Main Story
Competing wireless communications technologies sition is expected to be very low due to the low
Standard Family Application Multiplexing Notes cost of related technology. Also, the cost of new
802.16e WiMAX MobileInternet SOFDMA Quoted speeds hardware supporting WiMAX would be similar
achievable at short to that of their non-WiMAX versions. The same
range; practically does nor apply to 3G where most mobile
10Mbps at 10Km phones supporting it are substantially expen-
HIPERMAN HIPERMAN MobileInternet OFDM sive and require complete discard of old hand-
WiBro WiBro MobileInternet OFDM Short range (100 ms) Low latency ( Settings > Control The problem of not being able to install different partition. Just be sure to choose Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 2.66 GHz
Panel > Windows Firewall. software is bizarre. Make sure your Windows which one carefully and do not format it if you MSI P7NGM DIGITAL Motherboard
Go to Exceptions and check account is not set up as a limited user. Try have any data on it. Once that’s done, Vista will Palit Radeon HD 4870 SONIC 1GB Dual Edition
your torrent download creating a new user. If the installer for the soft- install and changes will be made to the boot (with Dual BIOS)
client. If you have any other ware is corrupted somehow, then that could record so you can choose between the two Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 HDD 320 GB
firewall program, then also be causing the problems. operating systems every time you boot. Corsair 2 x 2 GB 800MHz RAM
allow access through that Try updating drivers for your graphics solu- Cooler Master eXtreme Power 600W PSU
software in the same Exceptions for uTorrent maybe required to tion on the motherboard to fix the problem of System has slowed down Cooler Master CM 690 Cabinet
manner. ensure open access for it games blanking out the screen when run. 1 GB I am a regular reader of Digit. It is the one Dell E1909W 19-inch LCD
Jagdeep Virdi of memory is sufficient for Windows XP to run and only one tech magazine which always Liebert Emerson 600VA UPS
(TECH QNA Expert) but upgrading to a minimum of 2 GB is recom- keeps me up to date. I have a problem with my I installed Windows XP SP2 and Vista with SP1.
mended anyway. You will find improvement in desktop computer.My PC Configuration is: From the very first day, whenever I switch on my
performance. A dedicated graphics card for Intel P4 processor 2.4 GHz, Gigabyte 845 PC, the motherboard logo flashes on screen and
again. To search for a file, click the start button, games is also recommended. Motherboard, 256 MB DDR1 RAM and 1 GB DDR1 then a strange three second beep can be heard
and then click search. RAM. I also have a 40GB HDD and a 160GB (IDE) from the cabinet. Immediately after that, the
What should be done? Please help me. Using other programs instead of OS Windows XP SP2 system hangs completely. I reinserted the RAM
My PC Configuration is as follows: default programs The problem is very critical. I was running my but the problem persists. The strange thing is
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.00 GHz I use Windows Vista as my operating system. PC very well with 256 MB RAM and 40 GB and 160 when I restart my PC,it still gives me that strange
RAM: 480 MB of RAM I use other programs instead of some of the GB HDD. Last week, my system performance sound but it boots properly and I can login into
OS: MS Windows XP Professional SP2 default programs that come with it like Notepad, dropped by a lot. Even a simple application takes both XP and Vista and even can play Crysis at very
Kailash Subba Paint, Internet Explorer, Calculator, Windows a lot of time to load. high resolution for 10 hours at a stretch without
Explorer, etc. I use Textpad, Paint.net, Firefox, 1. I tried installing a new OS with different any problems.
The script error you get is because of a DreamCalc 3 Pro and Total Commander respec- different CDs - no results. I would like to mention here that my huge
worm. The other error relating to tively); I want to get rid of these default programs. 2. I upgraded my memory with 1 GB DDR1 with graphics card has physically covered almost all
wproxp.exe is also because of a worm. Is there a way? some good results, but my CPU usage the six SATA ports on my motherboard and the
Download, install, update and scan your Vikas Mahindra reaches 100% even with small applications, HDD SATA port was connected with very much
system with an antivirus including any flash or while installing some software. Even if I difficulty. I even had to keep the entire cabinet in
drives you have for worms. You cannot unin- open a folder, the CPU utilization reaches to a lying down position as in the upright position my
stall all of the 90% for six to seven seconds. graphics card was literally throwing its whole
Problems with DVD Drive mentioned software 3. I tried changing power supply - no results weight on the HDD SATA port below and giving me
The problem with my DVD drive is that it from your Windows 4. I tried installing OS in another HDD - no display-related problems.
cannot play dual layer DVDs. Either the Vista installation but results Enabling DMA mode for Is my graphics card clashing with my mother-
system cannot detect the disc at all in the drive (it you can remove a few 5. Both fans are working well, CPU as well as the hard drive channel board somehow? Or otherwise, is my SMPS not
shows Used space : 0 Bytes, Free space : 0 Bytes of them. Software like the power supply. powerful enough? The box for the Graphics card
while checking ‘Properties’) or the system hangs Windows Explorer 6. The CPU temper- says it alone needs 500 W Power Supply.
when I right click or double click on the DVD-RAM and Internet Explorer ature is 44C Please help me as I’m going nearly crazy and
Drive icon, unless I eject out the disc. It works fine are vital to the operat- No vendor of my lost all my sleep and peace of mind.
with other discs. ing system in some city could solve the Amitava Das
Recently after reinstalling windows XP, I found ways or for software problem.What do you If the graphics card manufacturer states
that I cannot install a few of the software ( like that you might install suggest? that 500W is required for just the graphics
Tune Up Utilities, Alcohol 120% ) from the hard in the future. Sandeep Goyal card alone, then the power supply is most
drive or DVDs, though I had no problem at all To uninstall the likely the problem. Make sure that you have all
while installing them earlier. few selected software, One of the first the necessary power cables plugged in. If possi-
Turning on and off of
A few games though get installed successfully, some of Windows Vista’s click on Start > Control Panel > Programs and things to do is to ble, borrow a powerful PSU from one of your
cannot be played by clicking on the icon. It ends up components is possible Features. In the left panel, click on Turn update the drivers for friends and try starting up your PC. If your
in a full black screen even if left for an hour or two, Windows features On or Off. Here you can your motherboard. If graphics card isn’t properly fitting into the PCI-
unless the computer is restarted. remove some of the software that come with you’ve just added the E slot, then unplug the SATA cables and see if
I use Avast Home Edition 4.8 and update it Vista. 1 GB of RAM, plug out you have any beeps or errors during startup.
regularly. Here is my system’s configuration the older 256 MB and
AMD 4000+ X64 Dual Core Processor I want to dual boot XP and Vista look for any improve- Buzzing sound
MSI ATI Radeon Graphics Accelerator based I want to install Windows Vista over my exist- ment. The CPU Hello, I get a buzzing noise when I move my
Motherboard ing installation of XP. Can I just install Vista in temperature is mouse pointer on the screen. The sound is an
1 GB DDR2 667MHz Ram (Transcend) another drive? Will it work properly? I have read perfectly fine. If you odd static which comes from the speakers. I have
160 GB Western Digital SATA2 HDD many books on it but I didn’t understand properly. have two drives an Enter optical mouse. Please tell me what to do
LG 18x DVD RW Please help. connected, try discon- to fix this problem. My rig configuration is an
60 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 61
ASUS A8V-VM Motherboard, an Can you help me in fixing this problem.
NVIDIA GeForce 7300GT 512 MB Thanks & regards
dedicated VGA Card, an AMD Arun Kumar
3500+ (Socket 939) CPU,
Frontech Super TV internal tuner Now assuming that you have only one
card, a LG- GH22N 22X DVD instance of Windows installed and just
Writer and Transcend 1 GB x 2 two boot entries on startup, removing the addi-
RAM (400 MHz) DDR1. I also tional entries is simple. In Windows, click on
have a 250 GB Hitachi SATA HDD. Start >
Regards,Zubin Control
Panel >
The sound you are getting System.
is most likely being chan- Click on the
neled through your sound Advanced
card to your speakers. Double- tab and
click on the Windows Volume click on the
Control. Access the volume Settings for
controls for both the the line- Startup and
in and microphone in the play- R e c o v e r y.
back and recording panels. There is a
Mute all instances of them. timeout
Recording volume t i m e
Orkut login on Windows controls for line-in might displayed
have to be enabled
Hi! This is Bhupesh. Whenever I login to which can
Orkut, the username and password appears be changed
automatically. I don’t want this to happen as my The timeout for choosing operating so that
computer is on a network. Please help me. systems can be reduced to a small Windows
Bhupesh Rawat amount continues
to load
If your computer is on a within a second of the prompt being displayed.
network and only you
have access to your account How to upgrade
on Windows, then there is Hi, I’m Devesh. By the end of your collectors
nothing to be worried about. edition, I have become the biggest fan of
If there are many other users DIGIT. I need to know few things.
using your computer, then My current PC configuration is
you can clear out your exist- Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 2.4 GHz
ing passwords and usernames Intel DG33 motherboard
by clearing out private infor- 2 GB DDR2 RAM
mation in the browser. If you NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT 512 MB
use Internet Explorer, click on 320 GB HDD
Tools > Options. Click on the I want to upgrade my PC to an Intel Core 2
Content tab and then on Quad Q6600 and increase my memory to 4 GB and
Autocomplete. Click on the hard drive space by 250 GB. The question is, since
Clear Passwords and Clear the DG33 motherboard supports the quad-core
Forms buttons. Similar processor, can I simply just take out Core 2 Duo
features can be found in and replace it by Quad Core Processor without
Opera and Firefox as well. Clearing of passwords making any changes in the BIOS settings or any
and form entries is possi-
ble on almost all
other settings for that matter? And secondly,
System booting problems browsers today would it be wise to use two different internal hard
I have a SG 1138IL Compaq Presario desktop disks at the same time (older 320GB and the new
with 256 MB of RAM and a 80 GB SATA hard 250GB).
disk. While formatting, I saved all the Program Will any such changes effect my current
Files to drive D by mistake, though it was to be programs installed in the PC? I have Vista
saved in C Drive. After formatting, when I started Ultimate and Windows XP Professional v2002 SP3.
my system, it asked me to select Microsoft Devesh
Windows XP to boot up further as there were two
instances of Microsoft Windows XP. On selecting Installing the new Core 2 Quad Q6600
any one of them, my system worked perfectly. processor will not be a problem. You
But after some days my system starts asking won’t have to make any changes in the BIOS. If
for password though I hadn’t set any password to you have any problems, reset the settings to
my system. I tried the password for Administrator default and save the BIOS settings. Two drives
but it didn’t accept it. or even more are not a problem. Upgrading to
To fix this problem, I formatted my system just an additional 250 GB of disk space might
completely. After this, my system has now been not be the best way to go. Look for something
working fine but it still asks to select Microsoft around 500 GB and above as prices are them
Windows XP during bootup. are at an all time low.
62 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
is noticeably different from saturation
control, but it’s a filter that works with
the saturation of the colours in the
image. What vibrance does is increase
the saturation of all the colours in the
photo, while cutting off the magnitude
of this increase for the colours that are
already saturated. This means that the
areas in the image with a lower satura-
tion get a bigger boost in saturation
than the areas in the image with a
higher saturation.
Using the Photo Filter
CS4 also has a new image adjust-
ment feature known as the Photo Filter.
Many features in Photoshop are named
SECRETS THAT KEEP YOU AHEAD IN THE RACE after similar techniques and equipment
TIPS 30 Minutes Expert used by Photographers before the onset
of digital photography. Photo Filters is a
Adobe Photoshop CS4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 F-Spot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Amarok . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Microangelo Toolset 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 long overdue feature. Filters were add-
ons to lenses that enhanced a particular
colour (like green) or suppressed a par-
ticular part of the electromagnetic spec-
Layer option. The submenu in this
trum (like UV light). The Photo Filter
Adobe Photoshop CS4 option in CS4 has a bunch of presets
Image > Adjustments. Every time
A
dobe Photoshop CS4 presents a option is the same as the submenu in which represent real-world filters avail-
spanking new interface with a able in the market for photographers.
bunch of small, thoughtful you select an adjustment layer, you will The logic of using a filter is thus:
touches. For example, the titlebar has see the options available for image imagine a landscape with a lot of trees,
been removed entirely, allowing more adjustments. This means that you can you can then use a green filter to better
space for the images to display. The repeatedly tweak image adjustments in reproduce the foliage, by enhancing the
cursor now changes from black to white multiple adjustment layers without green in the image. The Photo Filter
depending on the background, which having to go back and forth between option in Photoshop lets you choose
ensures that it is visible at all times. The image adjustments on a single layer. your own colour. You can use the colour
and apply the filter. Go to Image >
usually empty space after the menu bar Every image adjustment layer is essen- picker to pick a colour from the image
Adjustments > Photo Filter.
is filled with tools. Esentially, not a tially a mask added to the image.
single inch of screen space has been put
to waste. The immediate effect is that Using the Vibrancy adjustment
you have a much larger work area at filter Matching colours across
your disposal. There are also new The Image adjustments tools are the different images
features for the power user, most backbone of photo-editing on Photoshop. Often, a set of images taken at a partic-
noticeably, a panel view for working A new feature in CS4 is the vibrancy con- ular location or an event, look like they
with multiple documents at once. trol. By default, the middle left pane have been taken at different times, as
for easy access. Go to Image >
Another welcome addition is that of a now has image adjustment tools shown they look different. This can occur due
Adjustments > Vibrance. Vibrance
tabbed arrangement when multiple files to many reasons, like a large span of
are open; where you can undock single time between pictures or using multiple
images. cameras at a time. To make
the colours consistant
Working with layers across images, CS4 has a
Every time you wish to match colour option. First,
make a change to an image, open up all the images you
it makes sense to make those want to match the colour
changes in a new layer. This in, you will need a min-
measure preserves the orig- imum of two images. Next,
inal image, despite any select a reference image,
Layer > Duplicate
adjustments you make. Go to which will be the image
Layer to duplicate the image
you will use to source the
colours from. Every time
in a new layer. To make you match a colour in a
Layer > New Adjustment The new vibrance adjustment feature
image adjustments, use the particular picture, you will
use the colours in your ref-
www.thinkdigit.com Vol 9: 9 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009
Digital Tools l Tips & Tricks Digital Tools l Tips & Tricks
to Edit > Preferences >
Performance and check Enable Open
The new burning and Using Layer Comps
dodging tools have an Layer Comps, or layer compositions
option known as GL. can be used to show different permuta-
“Protect Tones” which tions and combinations from a single
better preserve the Further tweaks to optimise the PSD file. This can be useful when you
colour information of memory usage have to show a someone a different ver-
space. Go to Edit > Preferences >
the image. The picture The undo history of CS4 takes up a lot of sion of what is essentially the same
Performance, and reduce the steps of
on the left shows project. Elements such as logos, names
dodging without the and a few layers may be the same,
Protect Tones feature, undo operations to keep in memory. The whereas others like the background or
while the one on the cache levels can be increased upto 8, or text effects may be different. A layer
right shows dodging decreased as per individual preferences. comp is a configuration of visible layers
to Window > Layer Comp. First select
with the Protect Tones After a series of complicated operations that can be saved with the file itself. Go
used by Photoshop by going to Edit >
feature turned on. The are finished, you can clear the memory
Purge and selecting an option. The
difference is notice- the layers you want to display by
able, but there is no Animation using Photoshop clicking on the visibility icon next to the
standard approach for options available are Undo, Clipboard, layer. Once a number of layers are
using this feature as Histories and All. options to change parameters. The avail- you are currently working on. To start selected, go to the Layer Comp panel
the usage is dependent able options are Position, Opacity and working on a new snapshot, select the menu, and select New Layer Comp. To
on the kind of image Create a Panorama Effects. Position is the only parameter snapshot in the History panel. You can make another Layer Comp, select a dif-
and the desired If you have a set of pictures you that used in this particular animation, save as many snapshots as you want, but ferent set of visible layers, and select
output. would like to be merged into a although you can use others. For they are not saved with the file so when New Layer Comp. You can select and edit
Panorama, doing so is an easy process on example, you can change the opacity, so you close a file, the snapshots are lost. a Layer Comp. Layer Comps are stored
CS4. The merging is visibly better than that the ball becomes invisible when it with the file and can be mailed to
handled better. Go to File >
Matching colours to another image Increase or re- CS3. Wires, foliage and seascapes are bounces, and so on. For now, input the Allocate more RAM to clients.
Automate > Photomerge, choose the
allocate the number of frames to add as five. Now Photoshop
Go to Image > Adjustments >
erence picture. Remember the file name. scratch-disk space repeat the procedure for the consecutive If Photoshop is running sluggishly, or is The new blend modes in CS4
Match Color. Under Image Statistics,
Photoshop uses its own virtual memory auto perspective, add the images from original frames. Select all the frames, running short of resources, you can allo- CS4 introduces some new blend
when it runs short of the system’s vitual your system in order. To do this, click on and click on Play to preview the anima- cate more memory to the program. By modes. You need at least two layers in an
Layer > Duplicate layer to create
under “source” select the file name of memory and the RAM. Usually, the the Browse button, and select the files tion. default, Photoshop CS4 uses around 50- image to use the blend modes. Go to
Edit > Preferences >
your reference image. Your image should scratch-disk space is used from the same that you want to be merged into a 60% of your available memory. Go to
Performance > Memory Usage and create a layer. Then go to Layer >
immediately change the colour set. The drive that Photoshop is installed on. As panorama. If you have already opened Export individual layers as a new layer, or use another image to
Layer Style > Blending Options
image options that you see at this point this is usually the C: drive, where the the files in photoshop (for editing), then files
this location is not ideal. Go to Edit > > Blend Mode and select an option
of time, are absolutes and have nothing Windows virtual memory is also housed, simply click on Add Open Files. Click on Photoshop lets you export individual move the slider to let Photoshop use
Preferences > Scratch Disks to
to do with the reference image. Before OK and sit back and watch Photoshop do layers of the file you are currently more resources from your computer.
you do this make sure that the files you its magic. This will take some time, and working on, into separate files. The files Note that this step is not the same as from the drop down menu. The Darker
are working on are set to the same change this location. The window just you will see windows open and close generated are saved in the same folder, giving Photoshop a higher priority in Color mode blends the two layers by dis-
marks in Image > Mode should be
colour space. This means that the check- lists the drives available, and the repeatedly, but do not worry. and automatically named. You can the task manager. playing the darker of two possible
type options. File > Scripts >
amount of free space on each. Just make choose naming, compression and file colours. This layer will make no differ-
Export Layers to Files. Tweak the
consistent (this is also shown next to the sure you check the drives that have a lot Simple animation using
filename in the tab for the file). of free space on them. Photoshop
You can use Photoshop to animate options here as per your preference.
Protecting the tone of the Enable Open GL objects and layers in a picture, and then Check Visible layers if you want to
image while dodging and Photoshop CS4 can now use Open export it as a GIF. This was possible in export just the visible layers. Then click
burning. GL for smoother operations and some previous versions of Photoshop as well, on Run.
Until the release of CS3, dodging and file effects. This has been included but CS4 provides users with tweening
burning an image always looked unnat- specifically for their support for 3D files, options and further controls. To create a Working with snapshots
ural because of the way the image but it also helps in the overall user inter- simple animation, of say, a ball Snapshots save the current state of
grayed or darkened upon application. face experience. To enable Open GL, go bouncing, create a white background your image. They are very useful for
Then, go to Window > Animation >
with a circle shape to represent a ball. reverting to a previous state, and are
Frame View. Select the first frame, and
more reliable than the undo tool. You
can save multiple snapshots for com-
click on the Duplicate Frame button paring two different approaches to a
(right before the trash can). Duplicate photo-editing problem. To create a snap-
to Window > History. In the History
the frame five times, for different key shot, first display the History panel. Go
positions of the ball. Select individual
frames, and drag the shape to the rele- panel menu, select New Snapshot. Enter
vant position to do this. a name for the snapshot. You can now
Now select two consecutive frames, choose to store the entire image (which
go to the animation window and select is the norm), a version of the image with
tween. You will see a window with all the layers flattened, or just the layer Performance options in Photoshop
The old dodge tool (left) and the new dodge tool (right), that preserves tones
DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 Vol 9: 10 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com Vol 9: 11 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009
Digital Tools l Tips & Tricks Digital Tools l Tips & Tricks
preset script to export all existing layer Amarok MP3 Player
compositions to files. For this procedure Amarok is the MP3 player of choice for
Layer Comp saved in the file. Go to File
to work, you need to have at least one most Linux users. It is simple to install
> Scripts > Layer Comp to
and to configure, and is packed with fea-
Files. Select the output and compres-
tures. Amarok is available for download
sion settings. Then click Run. While you
from http://amarok.kde.org. The MP3
player will work on GNOME or any other
cannot work on more than one Layer desktop environment as long as the rele-
Comp at once, you can select multiple vant libraries are installed. Just use the
Layer Comps to be exported. This can be package manager to install Amarok, and
done by selecting the Layer Comps you should be good to go. Note that
instead of displaying them. When some of the features of Amarok are par-
exporting, check the “selected Layer ticularly buggy on a few distributions
Comps Only” option. such as Linux Mint and Ubuntu.
Working with 3D Objects Getting started with Amarok
Photoshop can now work with 3D Amarok cannot start playing MP3
objects, but just make sure that you have files the moment it is installed. The
plenty of RAM and plenty of Scratch main reason for this is that the codec is
open a file, simply go to File > Open
Disk space before attempting to do so. To propriety, and cannot be distributed for
free. Before installing the codec, you will
The new Hard Mix blending option
tent aware scaling. Go to Edit >
and choose a 3D object. You can rotate have to install an engine. Go to the
Content Aware Scaling to choose
ence to the image if both the layers are and resize such objects using the but- package manager, and choose both the
the same unaltered image. The Lighter tons just below the traditional toolbox. yauap and the xine engines for Amarok.
Color blending mode does the exact this option. Normally, Photoshop does a You can paint directly on the 3D objects, Once these are installed, install the mp3
opposite, by displaying the lighter of two good job of preserving the content when and the filters you apply will be applied codec from www.fluendo.com. This is an Looking for album art
Playback > Transition and select Tags tab, select Fill-In Tags Using
possible colours. This mode will show no you rescale an image. First, select the to the surface or “texture” of the 3D online shop that “sells” MP3 codecs for
tion by pressing the Build button that MusicBrainz. The program automati-
difference if both the layers are the area of the image you want preserved objects. no money. Finally, build your MP3 collec-
same. The Hard Mix option is an inter- using the select tool. crossfading. Set a crossfade duration as
esting new feature. The blending adds Then go to Channels appears when you start up Amarok. per your preference. You can also choose cally searches for similar songs, and gen-
choose multiple folders and click OK.
the color components on the channels, (the tab next to layers) Choose the folder with your MP3 files, or to implement the crossfade on only auto- erates the content for the tags. Note that
giving a display colour of 255 if the and click on save matic track changes or on only manual this is not hundred per cent foolproof.
colours add up to more than 255, and 0 Selection as channel Your music has now been imported into track changes.
if they don’t. (the white circle in the Amarok, and you are good to go. Look up the lyrics and artist
Edit > Content
grey square). Now go to Add album art to collection information
Aware Scaling, and
Content Aware Scaling Play music from last.fm You can automatically add album While playing a song, look to the con-
One of the best features of CS4 is For this procedure to work, you art to your entire collection. If your text menu, and then go to the Lyrics tab.
content aware scaling. This is great for use the Protect drop will need an account with last.fm, so folders have an album art, they will be This should throw up a choice of two
from last.fm, go to Engage > Play
converting regular wallpapers to down box to select the make sure you have one. To play music detected and shown. If there are missing scripts for getting lyrics: Astraweb and
last.fm Stream > Custom sta-
widescreen wallpapers. This feature pre- channel you just cre- album covers, Amarok can retrieve them Lyrc. Choose one of the two scripts
tion. Here, you will have to enter the
serves the important aspects of images ated. This is usually from the Internet. This step requires a which should fetch you the lyrics of the
Tools > Cover Manager. This
while resizing them. This means that Alpha 1, but if you cre- working Internet connection. Go to song you are listening. This will be dis-
while stretching images, important ele- ated more channels, Working with 3d objects on Photoshop name of the artist, a genre of music or a played in the window. The Artist tab in
ments like buildings or people don’t get these will be named particular band of your preference. should show you all the artists in your the context menu brings up artist infor-
distorted. In this example, a picture with Alpha 2, Alpha 3... Last.fm will choose similar songs based collection with the relevant covers. mation from Wikipedia.
covers. Click on Fetch missing
a width of 1850 pixels was stretched to a Install missing features in CS4 on what you input in this box. You will Blank cases are shown for artists without
covers to update the covers for these
3000 pixel width. The picture on the left Export all Layer Comps to files Veteran users will come across a then be prompted for your username Play Shoutcast radio on
Go to Playlist > Radio Streams
was scaled in CS3, whereas the picture Instead of manually saving layer few effects and plugins that are missing and password. Next, you will be Amarok
> Shoutcast streams, to find a long
on the right was scaled in CS4 using con- compositions to files, you can use a in Photoshop CS4. These are extras that prompted to accept cookies. This is just artists and albums. This will take a long
were included in the goodies folder of the way last.fm works, and the songs you time depending on how many covers
previous versions, but no included in the listen to will be metered and counted by need to be updated and the speed of list of Internet radio stations. Choose a
latest version. The missing features last.fm. This keeps tracks of your statis- your connection. genre, then select a particular station,
include commonly used features like tics, as well as improves recommenda- after which you can choose a sub-station.
web photo gallery maker, the texture fill tions that last.fm throws your way. Right Find out the name of your song Double-click, and the music should start
and the PDF presentation maker. To fix click on the track you are streaming If you have an album full of songs streaming.
these missing features (and more), go to from last.fm to love or ban the track, without IDv3 information, or just a few
http://tinyurl.com/cs4missing and select directly on the server. odd songs that have neither tagged Work with playlist
the platform. You will need a farily pow- information nor file name, you can still To load an artist or an album as a
erful internet connection though, as this Turn on crossfading find out what the song is in Amarok. playlist, right-click on the name of the
Settings > Configure Amarok > Edit Track Infromation. Under the
is a 40 MB download. The files have to be To turn on crossfading, go to Right-click on one such track, and select album/artist and click on Load. You can
Stretching without content-aware scaling (left) and with content-aware scaling (right)
placed in the plugins folder. also select a few songs and click on Load.
DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 Vol 9: 12 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com Vol 9: 13 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009
Digital Tools l Tips & Tricks
To further add artists/albums to an
album/artist and click on Append to
existing playlist, right-click on the
Playlist. Go to Playlist >
Playlist. Right-click on Playlist, and
click on Create new Playlist to
create a new playlist. The next time you
right click on artists/albums or songs,
you should get an option to add those
tracks to this playlist, or subsequent
ones you might want to create.
Searching in a large database
If you have a large collection of
music, it can become daunting to search
through it for a particular song. For this
with smart tags. Searching for title:
reason, the search bar in Amarok works
summer will show any songs from artists
Searching for “Summer Wine” will
or albums with summer in the title.
work as a phrase search. You can search
by any field in the standard IDv3 format. stalling scripts
Use the tray icon to its fullest on Get More Scripts. Note that you Backward and Stop commands are acti-
capability need an Internet connection for this fea- vated. Use a seperator to organise the
The tray icon for Amarok can be very ture to work. Wait for a few seconds as toolbar. You can, for example, remove
useful. You can do a number of things Amarok updates its script database. Now the Forward and Backward icons, and
with it. The icon itself indicates the every time you select a script, a small add the last.fm icon. At any point of
progress of track that’s playing. Hover description appears alongside. Read time, click on Restore Default to return
over the icon to get the song’s album art, carefuly and pick and choose scripts to Amarok to its original state.
title, artist, location and length. your liking; beware as some might be
Go to Settings > Configure
Hovering over the tray icon and using buggy, or not work properly on all dis- Change how Amarok looks
Amarok > Appearance. Then change
the mouse scroll changes the volume. tros. Also check the versions of the
to decrease volume. Holding [Shift]
Scroll up to increase volume, scroll down scripts: installing a stable version is
better than installing an alpha release. the fonts that Amarok uses, change the
and hovering over the tray icon and foreground and background colours,
Use [Windows] + [X] to play,
using the scroll wheel goes back and For the keyboard warrior and the colour for a new playlist item.
[Ctrl], goes back and forth through a [Windows] + [C] to Play/Pause, default. Click on Download Styles,
forth through the track; doing this with There are two browser styles available by
[Windows] + [V] to stop.
[Windows] +[-] reduces the volume,
playlist. You can drag and drop files into select one of the highest rated or hottest
while [Windows] + [=] increases the folder. Then click on install style
the tray icon to play or to queue them. styles, and save them to your system
volume. [Windows] + [Z] plays the
previous track, and [Windows] + [B]
Burn CDs with Amarok to add the style. The style will now show
have to do is go to Playlist > Burn plays the next track. [Windows] +
Once a playlist is loaded, all you up in the Select a style drop down
CD. For this feature to work, you will [Shift] + [=] seeks forward into a
menu. Pick it, and if you don't like it,
track and [Windows] + [Shift] +
repeat the process until you find some-
[-] seeks backwards. Use [Windows]
need k3b installed, which comes by thing that suits your taste.
+ [M] to mute, and [Windows] + [A]
default if you are using KDE. If not, use
Go to Settings > Configure
the package manager to install k3b. The Transfer files to your PMP
Settings>Configure Shortcuts to Amarok > Media Devices. Click on
window that pops up allows you to re- to add tracks to the player. You can go to
Autodetect Devices. Now plug in
order songs, as well as add and remove
tracks. customise these shortcuts and more.
your PMP, and Amarok should normally
Install additional scripts Personalise the interface detect it. You can transfer songs back
your device, click on Add Device and
Since Amarok is open-source, there You can make Amarok look the and forth. If Amarok does not detect
are a lot of independent developers out way you want to, by removing tabs and
there who have written small plugins for features you don't use, or by adding manually add the device. This procedure
Settings > Configure Toolbars.
it. These are called scripts, and can be those not available by default. Go to will not work for the iPod, but there are
Tools > Script Manager and click
installed from the Script Manager. Go to slightly more complicated workarounds
By default only the Play, Pause, Forward, for this player as well.
DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 Vol 9: 14 www.thinkdigit.com
Bazaar We test the latest hardware
and software products
available in the market
Zotac GeForce GTX285 AMP! edition inWe benchmarked this card
DX10 using a QX9650
This is a high-end card and
definitely is one of the
The mammoth has arrived with 4 GB DDR3 RAM. 3D world’s fastest single GPU
Mark Vantage gave a score of cards so the price is also
VIDIA has just stepped requires only two 6-pin PCIe 15,206 with a GPU score of quite exorbitant, but at the
N up its game by releasing
the GTX285. This is the
connectors as compared to its
predecessor (one 8 pin and
12,533. At a resolution of
1920x1200 in Company of
same time knowing its capa-
bilities you can’t say it’s
pumped up version to the one 6 pin). The cover on the Heroes with AA enabled, we unaffordable either.
great GTX280 that was back was also removed. The got 202.9 fps. With Doom 3
released last year. Zotac now AMP! edition comes with we got 246.9 fps with 4x AA Specifications:
brings to us an even more clocks of 702 / 1512 / 2592 at 1600x1200. Crysis gave us NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 @
pumped up GTX285 AMP! edi- MHz (core / shader / memory) interesting scores — in DX9, 702 MHz engine clock, 240
tion. The card looks the same as compared to the standard the result we got were 46 at Processor Cores @ 1512 MHz,
as the GTX280 one of the dif- edition of 648 / 1600x1200 and 40 at 1 GBB GDDR3, 2592 MHz
ferences we noticed is the 1476 / 2484 1920x1200 while in DX10 we memory clock
power connectors. MHz. The got fps of 25 and 22 respec-
This one GTX280 tively. Unreal Tournament 3 at Contact: ZOTAC International
in com- 4x AA and 4x AF gave us a (MCO) Ltd.
pari- score of 141 fps at Phone: 011-46665666
son 1920x1200. The last bench- Email: sales@zotac.com
mark we ran was the slight- Web site: www.zotac.com
comes ly older F.E.A.R. with 4x AA Price: Rs. 28,999
at clocks of and 4x AF. The card aver- RATINGS
602 / 1296 / 2214 MHz aged 167 fps at 1600x1200
Features
(core / shader / memory). and 127 fps at 1920x1200.
Performance
The GTX285 still comes with The GTX285 has definite-
Build quality
240 stream processors, but ly some good results with
Value for Money
the major difference is the benchmarks, but it’s not all
Overall
move from 65nm to 55nm. that far from the GTX280.
BenQ E900HD get used to the interface in movie watching on the
minutes. desktop, this 19-inch still
Best suited for movie buffs Setting up the screen is does a fair job at it. At
enQ’s E900HD is an all and that’s what most LCD simple, and the screen does Rs 7,900, it’s a pretty good
B new ultrawide LCD
screen that sports a 16:9
and Plasma TVs use.
This BenQ product defi-
well to display details. The
only big difference while
deal, especially for its sleek
design — which you’d
aspect ratio and operates at nitely grabs everyone’s using the screen for desktop expect to pay more for.
a resolution of 1366x768. attention. It has a mix of a applications is the reduced
This kind of resolution is glossy black and grey finish workspace in terms of Specifications
perfect for watching movies to it. It’s got the right design height. Other than that, the 19-inch screen, Resolution:
for an everyday-use screen does well — the 1366x768 pixels, Response time:
desktop PC screen. colours are good, but the 5ms, Dimensions:
All the buttons have presets supplied with the 18.03x14.17x7.03 inches
the right feel to screen are too gaudy and
them. The stand over-emphasised. Contact: Benq India
also shares the The screen also features Phone: 0124-4501400
same glossy finish inbuilt speakers, but they are E-mail: sales.enquiryin@benq.com
as the bezel, and pretty weak — even after con- Web site: www.benq.co.in
keeps the screen cessions for being inbuilt. Price: Rs. 7,900
leveled and stable. The speakers are clear, but RATINGS
Like some other just not powerful enough for
Features
brands, the controls everyday use, and definitely
Performance
are moved to the not so for movies or games.
Build quality
side, and using the Although 22-inch and
Value for Money
interface is extreme- above screens would be con-
Overall
ly simple — you can sidered by many as ideal for
www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 73
Digital Tools l Bazaar
MSI PR201 - 51.41. The screen quality is mins on high performance
The Plain Jane laptop just about decent and if it with full brightness. The
were a rating on 10 we second being it’s weight:
he MSI PR201 notebook beneficial at times. This would give it a 6.5, whereas 1.8 kg. The laptop is defi-
Palit HD 4870 Sonic 1GB
The card gave us a 3D
Mark 06 score of 15087. We
that the it’s slightly louder
than most cards, especially
T falls in the Professional
series of the MSI group. The
MSI also lacks a FireWrie
port. We ran a series of
the audio would score a 7.
There are two things
nitely business oriented
and has great processing
From 512 MB to 1 GB benchmarked Crysis in DX9 louder in turbo mode PR201 is black, like other benchmarks to see the per- that stand out in this lap- power. But then it also
at 1280x1024 and 1920x1200 where the fans throttle up business notebooks, but has formance of this laptop. top. One is the battery life: lacks some features like a
he HD 4870 initially Instead, we see four different both at 4x AA and 4x AF and to the overclock. At nice silver insides. This gives a PC Mark 05: CPU Score - It lasted a whole 3 hours 27 better touchpad and a bet-
T launched with only a
512MB GDDR5 version,
ports – DVI, VGA, HDMI and
a new standard display port.
got fps ratings of 46 and 30,
respectively. Unreal
Rs 18,500, the card is great
buy for a high-end card.
really neat and simplistic feel
to it, and you won’t even find
5800, Memory Score
- 4885, Graphics
ter optical drive also.
which was just odd, because There is a small overclocking Tournament 3 gave us an fps stickers of any kind on it. Score - 2453, HDD - Specifications
such a high-power card switch to go from Normal to of 115 at 1280x1024 and 69 Specifications There is a Kensington 4461, Overall - 4795. Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 @ 2.26
deserved to have more mem- Turbo mode. Under Normal, at 1920x1200 both at 4x AA Memory Support: 1024 MB security slot, VGA port, 3D Mark 05: CPU GHz, Display: 12-inch WXGA
ory. Months after the first the core clocks at 750MHz and 4x AF. With Doom 3 (4x DDR5, Memory Interface: 256 USB, LAN port, and an opti- Score - 7951, (1280x800), SD, MMC, MS, MS
4870s came, we see compa- and memory at 3800MHz AA) at 1600x 1200, we got bit, Sonic Memory / Core cal drive on the left side. Overall - 1383. PRO Card reader
nies coming out with 1-GB QDR. When you hit the 200.5 fps. In Prey, we got Clock: 3800 MHz (950 x 4) / The right side of the laptop Maxxon
versions, one of them being Turbo switch, the card auto- 125.5 fps at 1920x1200 and 750 MHz, Turbo Memory / has two USB ports, a CineBench R10 Contact: MSI
the Palit with its Sonic edi- matically adjusts its core to 4x AA, 4x AF. We tested in Core Clock: 3800MHz (950 x 4) modem port, an HDMI port, (CPU Score) - Phone: 011-41758808
tion 4870 1 GB card. 775 MHz and Memory to turbo mode and it did not / 775 MHz a PC card slot and a flash 4694. FarCry E-mail: marketing@msi-in.com
Palit has not stuck with 4000 MHz QDR. It’s not a give us great gains. card reader. (fps) Web site: www.msi-in.com
the standard cooling edition, very large overclock, but it’s The only drawback we Contact: Tirupati Enterprises A few problems we had (640x480, Price: Rs. 62,000
but has gone in for the same good to have. noticed with this card is Phone: 09339207519 with this laptop was that low RATINGS
dual-fan cooling like some of E-mail: mail@tirupati.net firstly the touchpad has no detail)
Features
the other Sonic series cards. Web site: www.tirupati.net side scrolls or multi-touch
Performance
The card has two 6-pin PCIe Price: Rs. 18,500 functions. Even though
Build quality
power connectors towards this laptop may be going
Value for Money
the back. Now, when you for a plain and neat look,
RATINGS Overall
look at the I/O side of this things like that may be
Features
card, it gets a bit more inter-
Performance
esting. Palit has moved on
Build quality
from that boring Dual Link in. The power button is screen is not as good as we’d
DVI setup seen on most
Value for Money Samsung T220 using a touch-sensitive but- like it to be. It’s still an above
graphic cards these days.
Overall Different, but at a cost ton. The menu controls are average performer. The price
on the side. is clearly more than most 22-
ith brands lowering T190 which came to us a The build quality of the inch screens. This is some-
WD My Passport Elite 500GB of 34.9 MBps, and an average
write speed of 29.1 MBps. In
466 GB of actual storage
space, this drive is great for
W prices and a lot of
choice available,
few months back. In terms
of design, things aren’t any
screen itself is great but
the stand isn’t so. The
thing that you should only
spend on if you really want
Slim, portable and spacious SiSoft Sandra, the drive its design and build quality. Samsung’s T220 moves different. The Bordeaux stand only allows you to design and elegance.
ortable hard drives are The WD My Passport Index score was 31 MBps. We It has a 5-year warranty, but away from the norm of treatment is still there. move the screen back and
P getting smaller and
smaller and everybody
Elite is a 2.5-inch drive with
a nice metallic finish to it
ran the drive through some
file transfer test where we
unfortunately, the price tag
of Rs. 12,150, it’s certainly not
plain thin bezel screens.
The T220 is identical to
There bezel around the
screen is semi-transparent
forth quite a bit.
The display quality is
Specifications
22-inch screen, Resolution:
wants storage. Western with the edge in a black did a 1 GB sequential as well good value for money. its 19-inch sibling – the with a hint of color thrown somewhat similar to what 1680x1050, Response time:
Digital has added a 500 GB gloss finish. On one side, you as a 1 GB assorted file trans- the T190 has. Calibrating the 2ms, Dimensions: 20.47 x 17.4
drive to the My Passport find the USB 2.0 connector fer test and got the following Specifications screen using Displaymate x 8.46 inches
Elite series. This drive design with four white LEDs next to times — 1 GB sequential Dimensions: 15 x 126.15 x 79.5 was a little tricky with the
is great as always and has a it. We noticed a flaw here, write time: 36.5 sec, 1 GB mm, 2.5 inch SATA 5400 RPM brightness and contrast set- Contact: Samsung India
soft finish to it. the lights are on the con- sequential read time: 16.4 tings not playing along well. Electronics Pvt. Ltd.
necting side of the drive, sec, 1 GB sequential internal Contact: Western Digital The blacks aren’t very deep Phone: 011-41511234
that means the user can’t copy: 44.7 sec. For the 1 GB Phone: 09321029204 and the colors are pretty E-mail: rengith.nair
really see the lights. The assorted files we got a write Email: amarjeet.singh@wdc.com decent overall. Being a TN @samsung.com
lights should have been on time of 42.7 sec, a read time Web site: www.wdc.com panel, banding is present, Web site: www.samsung.com
the other side so that users of 16.1 sec, and 1 GB assorted Price: Rs. 12,150 but not visible as much in all Price: Rs 15,000
can actually see them. There internal copy: 38.1 sec. colours. Movies and games
is also a sliding cover over This portable drive also RATINGS look fine but there is noth- RATINGS
the USB port which is quite comes with software that ing extraordinary.
Features Features
innovative and keeps the includes Google Desktop, The T220 is destined for
Performance Performance
port safe and clean. Picasa, Adobe Reader 8.1, WD users who want their desktop
Build quality Build quality
The My Passport Elite was Diagnostics Setup, Backup setups to look good. The T220
Value for Money Value for Money
quiet, and in HDTach, it Utility, Drive Manager, is on target in that aspect,
Overall Overall
scored an average read speed MioNet and a Sync Tool. With but the performance of the
74 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 75
Digital Tools l Bazaar Digital Tools l Bazaar
Canon Selphy CP 760 for many devices to print, XFX 750a SLi the NVIDIA 8300 chipset.
great quality outcome. Only SLI: Check, Onboard Graphics: Check, Great Buy: Check This motherboard is a
4x6 affordable prints now available at home question here is why is it great motherboard for AMD
ave you ever found your- colour LCD display under have to be done with the PC. only a 4 x 6 photo printer. he XFX 750a SLi works as a really good enthusiast especially with
H self in the situation that
you really needed a photo
which are present the con-
trol buttons. The screen is
The time taken to print
a single 4x6 postcard image
Considering the price of
only Rs. 5,495, it is a really
T motherboard is a
fairly new chipset
integrated graphics
solution and gave us
power saving due to Hybrid
SLI. This is really a great
print at that very second in slightly angled so as to make took us 78 sec. This was great buy and we definitely with integrated fps results of 57.5 buy for a motherboard with
time and that there was no viewing as comfortable as quite amazing considering recommend this to you all. graphics for the AMD on Doom 3 integrated graphics.
way but to go to a photo stu- possible. The front side of the image accuracy. We dou- lover. The board is (640x480 Ultra
dio. Well that problem will this printer has three memo- ble checked this by printing Specifications fully loaded with all Details, No Specifications
now be solved thanks to ry card slots, which takes another image and this Max Resolution: 300x300 dpi, the NVIDIA goodies like AA, No AF) Socket: AM2+/AM2, Chipset:
Canon’s Selphy CP 760 com- SD, MMC, MS, MS Duo. On time it took us 74 sec with 2.5-inch colour LCD display, 2 way SLI support, and also 750a SLI MCP, Memory Type:
pact photprinter. the left side, the PC connec- the same colour accuracy. Dimensions (inches): 7.09 (W) x Hybrid SLI, GeForce Boost. 32.2 fps DDR2, Max Supported
It’s a simple design, tion port and a USB port for There are no modes like 4.99 (D) x 2.88 (H), The design of the board (1024x768 Memory: 8GB, USB Ports: 4,
white in colour with round- PictBridge connection from colour saving and economy is well laid out with the typ- Ultra Details, No Onboard Graphics: GeForce
ed edges. There is a 2.5-inch digital cameras are present. that are present, but since Contact: Canon India Private ical XFX black and green AA, No AF). Company of 8200, VGA Port, DVI Port, 2
The Selphy has its own this printer is meant only Limited colour scheme. It looks Heroes gave us fps results Way SLI Bridge.
features like basic colour for photo printing, it’s just Phone: 1800-180-33-66 good, don’t get us wrong, of 20.5 and 12 from the set-
corrections and even great. Also it is great fun to E-mail: info@canon.co.in especially with the steel push of it. tings of 800x600 and Contact: Rashi Peripherals
red eye reduction watch the process of print- Web site: www.canon.co.in heat pipes XFX has used. Some other features we 1280x1024 respectively. 3D Phone: 022-67090909
which can be config- ing as it prints in layers, Price: Rs. 5,495 There are two PCI X1 slots found is Justw00t, the over- Mark 05 gave a score of E-mail: response@rptechindia.com
ured on the printer first a layer of yellow, then below the fist PCIe slot. The clocking features in the XFX 2433/8129 (3D Marks/CPU Web site: www.rptechindia.com
before printing. This red, then blue and finally board also comes with three bios. You can also reset all score). The scores for PC Price: Rs. 8,750
RATINGS
can be done even white with an instant dry- PCI slots. There is also a nice your overclocking settings Mark 05 are as follows: CPU RATINGS
Features
when a digital ing feature. So for each big PCI jumper between the by flashing the settings on - 7635, Memory - 4544,
Performance Features
camera is colour layer the paper gets two PCIe slots. An interest- the motherboard itself. Graphics - 2208, HDD -
Build quality Performance
plugged in sucked back in and out. ing button along with the We tested the perform- 7042, Overall - 5762. The
Value for Money Build quality
and doesn’t This printer is light, com- Power switch and Restart ance of this motherboard Chipset on this board is the
Overall Value for Money
necessarily pact, easy to use, many ways button is a Bios Button and got some really good 750a MCP, but in perform-
Overall
which can be flashed by the results. The GeForce 8200 ance it matches up to even
Divoom XFORCE-1 which gives it a very good for a set that sound pretty Mr Site Takeaway Website keep you aware of when your This website builder is
No Kaboom! look. The stand rotates so decent. This makes it good
An easy way to create a website web site will get filled up. very user friendly with an
they automatically become value for money. Anyone There is a wide variety of easy interface, but it is still
ivoom is one of the aren’t as attractive. With wall mounts. This is some- who wants a decent 2.1 he Internet abounds with many Pages?, Change designs you can choose from just at a basic level. Even
D newest brands to hit
the Indian market. We have
them removed however,
they are a lot better and
thing you don’t see every-
day. Because of this, the
speaker set for the desktop
and can’t spend more than
T web sites and knowledge
about almost anything and
Content, Publish your Site,
Extras and Log Off. On the
and entering your text into
them is not hard. You can
though this kit costs Rs.
2,999, which is costly, the
with us a speaker set called sound a tiny bit better too. stands feel a little loose. Rs 2,000 shouldn’t look any everything. But what if you upper right side you also see also select Creative Mode annual renewal is a mere
the Xforce 1. It’s a catchy A wired remote with a mic Once you tweak the tre- further. want to cast your voice and a Quick Jump Menu which which gives you more £2.99 (approx. Rs. 225).
name for sure but we have and auxillary input accom- ble and bass a bit, the opinions on the Net too but gives you quick and easy options to add YouTube
to see if they really are any panies the speakers. The speakers sound pretty good. Specifications don’t know web designing or access to all the options and videos and even Flash anima- Specifications
good in performance. bass and treble controls are The bass is almost excessive Power 40 W, Frequency Range: programming to do so. Well their respective sub-menus. tions. One thing we did not 150 MB Website Storage space,
The speakers are a 2.1 on the woofer itself. but it’s not really powerful 20Hz to 20kHz, that’s where Online Web site Above that are the options: like is that the text of the valid for 1 year, Anytime
format speakers that con- The woofer is sturdy and just loose and flabby. The Dimensions: Satellites 100 x Builders come into the pic- Buy, Stats, Help and Email. title that you select for the Webmail Access, User guide
nect using RCA cables. The the sallites by themself are satellites are much better. 105 x 180 mm, Subwoofer: 230 ture. One such web site Next to these options there is page, which is displayed on included.
woofer looks really attrac- built pretty well. The woofer They are clear and bright in x 255 x 210 mm builder is Mr Site which a storage meter which shows the header, will be the same
tive but the satellites with has a very attractive front nature but lack high detail. claims to be easier than easy you the space you have as the text on the button for Contact: Mr Site Takeaway Website
the dust filter covers on with a fine mesh on it They are pretty loud but Contact: H T Impex when it comes to creating a already utilized and will that page. Extras include Pvt. Ltd.
they don’t really have a Phone: 022-66102080 web site. options like Widgets, Phone: 09780531682
punchy sound to it. The E-mail: sales@zenthemaster.com The Mr Site Website Kit is Personalising, and Admin Email: sales@mrsite.co.in
speakers work great for Web site: www.divoom.com a box which contains a options. You can personalise Web site: www.mrsite.co.in
music and are still pretty Price: Rs 1,900 Manual, a CD and an activa- quite a bit with Mr Site like Price: Rs. 2,999
average for movies and tion code. The activation uploading custom headers,
games. People who like RATINGS
process is straight forward logos and even buttons. A RATINGS
crisp highs in their music and once you decide a nice feature that comes with
Features Features
will love these. The bass domain name you’re one this is a website image editor
Performance Performance
also is pretty but good but step closer to creating your which is very easy to use and
Build quality Build quality
the mids are lacking. web site. On logging in you has an equally simplistic
Value for Money Value for Money
The XFORCE-1 is priced see six options infront of interface. Webmail and FTP
Overall Overall
at Rs 1,900 which is cheap you: Choose a Design, How support is also provided.
76 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 77
Digital Tools l Bazaar Digital Tools l Bazaar
Epson Stylus TX101 This Epson is a basic all- XFX 9800GT which is good for this card.
in-one printer that does not The XFX 9800GT is good
Where it’s all about being affordable have anything out of the The affordable performer card to use for games at a
pson has been one of a scanner, there is no but- ordinary going for it. VIDIA’s 9 series graphic low resolution. It will give
E the world’s leading
manufacturers of inkjet
ton for Scan. You need to
scan through the PC using
Even though it is
priced at only Rs.
N cards are nothing more
than a refurbished GeForce
you good results up to a res-
olution of 1280x1024 with
printers, scanners, laser the Epson Scan software 3,699, we would 8 series card. The main dif- high detail. If you are plan-
printers and even dot which comes with the not recommend ference is that the 9800GT ning to go above that with a
matrix printers. The Epson installation CD. you to buy this as uses 65nm GPU unlike its shiny 22-inch LCD or some-
Stylus TX101 is an all-in-one We tested the print quality wise it is 8800GT counterpart. The thing then expect the per-
Printer-Scanner-Copier quality by printing three not ideal. XFX version of this card formance you cannot expect 3, we got the results of 146 formance to fall.
inkjet and is aimed for test documents. We saw looks really great. Firstly it this to be as good as a GTX fps and 77 fps respectively.
home users. that in economy mode it Specifications does not take up two PCI 280, but it did very well for a On the other side, we Specifications
The TX101 is a two flap takes about 10secs to print The image quality was an Maximum resolution: slots as the others that mid-range card. We ran it also tested games that were Core Clock - 600 MHz, Memory
printer, which means, the a document which is light improvement, but that 5760x1440 dpi , Optical reso- share the same numerical through a series of bench- not as demanding (graphic Clock – 1800 MHz, Memory –
paper has to be loaded gray in colour and of a bad page took 127.1secs with lution: 600 X 1200 DPI, 48 bits part of the name; 9800GTX, marks at different settings wise) but are all time 512MB GDDR3 Stream
from the top and comes quality with lines between the same jagged edges input, 24 bits output 9800GX2, 9800GTX+. XFX for various games are the favourites too like Doom 3, Processors - 112, 512 MB GDDR3,
out from the front. The each word. The same was around text. has used its own cooling results are as such. In Crysis Prey and Far Cry. In Doom 3 Memory Interface - 256 bit
back flap is almost at a seen while printing the We also tested photo Contact: Epson India solution which is a plus at 1280x1024 with 4xAA and with the settings of 4x AA
90º angle which is fine image & text file which printing by printing a full Phone: 080 30515000 point. Other than looks, 4xAF we got 33 fps and at at 1600x1200 we got 93.5 Contact: Hewlett Packard
when you are loading a took 40.7secs even in econ- page colour test document E-mail: think@eid.epson.co.in this card has 112 SPs and 1920x1200 with 4xAA and fps. With prey at 1280x1024 Phone: 124 - 2566 111
whole lot of paper but is omy mode with the colours on some photo paper. The Web site: www.epson.co.in comes at stock clocks of 600 4xAF we got 16 fps. In (4x AA, 4x AF) we got 112.2 Email: seema.dawar@hp.com
not very useful for loading not even being clearly visi- quality was slightly dull Price: Rs. 3,699 MHz for the core and 512 Stalker: Shadow of fps and at 1920x1200 (4x Web site: www.hp.com/in
single sheets. ble. In the standard mode, with some pixilation in MB of GDDR3 memory Chernobyl, 125.53 fps was AA, 4x AF) it was 70.6 fps. Price: Rs. 8,800
RATINGS
The buttons are located which is normal, the print comparison to the actual clocked at 1800 MHz. seen at 1280x1024 with 4x FarCry results were also
Features RATINGS
on the left of this printer quality did improve, but image. The time taken to There is no game bun- AA and 4x AF whereas, 78 very good, 1280x1024 (4x
Performance Features
with buttons for On/Off, the edges were still rough print this at the best quali- dled with this card, nor is fps was seen at 1920x1200 AA, 8x AF) - 147.15 fps and
Build quality Performance
Stop and Copy functionali- and the time taken for the ty was 9 mins and 28 secs there any overclocking soft- with 4x AA and 4x AF. With at 1920x1200 (4x AA, 8x AF)
Value for Money Build quality
ty. Sadly, even though this text documents was at an which is just too long for ware. But XFX never provides settings of 1280x1024 and - 102.33 fps.
Overall Value for Money
all-in-one also comes with average of about 27secs. one print. overclocking software any- 1920x1200 with 4x AA and The XFX 9800GT gave a
ways. When it comes to per- 8x AF for Unreal Tournament 3D Mark 06 score of 13351, Overall
LG KP500 Cookie flawless fluidity of Apple’s
touch interface. Add to that a
the Xperia and the IPhone.
The Cookie does make a
lems that prevent us from
recommending you swallow the higher mids. The sound RCA connectors so you need
No cookie for me very slow processor which strong point for itself by hav- this Cookie (pardon the pun!). Intex IT-5400FM is pretty warm but it lacks 3.5mm jack to RCA connec-
becomes amply evident as ing a well laid out menu sys- For one, it’s a mediocre Average performer at a cheap price detail. There is crystal clear tors to connect to these
he Cookie is a clean look- you use the touch feature tem with pretty good icons – phone, MP3 playback quality crisp highs that come out speakers.
T ing phone at first glance.
Its got a really uncluttered
when browsing albums and
such. We were a bit disap-
not like some of the cartoon-
ish icons we’ve seen from LG
and the camer could be bet-
ter. There are other alterna- I ntex’s IT-5400 FM are a 5.1
speaker set that can be
small display on it that dis-
plays information of the vol-
from the speakers. The flap-
py smooth harmonic bass
These speakers are clear-
ly best used with a DVD
front facia with just three, pointed with the touch sensi- in the past. LG provides a tives for this price range that used with both the PC and ume. Performing tasks like isn’t present either but the player or an HTPC and con-
small and well beveled but- tivity. On a more positive neat bunch of games and do far more as a phone and also in your living room changing volume requires the beats are pretty distinct. nected to a TV. At Rs 3,950,
tons. The phone itself is fin- note touch accuracy is a bit quite frankly we had a bit of as multimedia devices. with your TV. The satellites you to keep pressing the vol- If there’s one strong they are a decent pair of
ished in matte black and has better and acceptable for a fun playing these. of this set are of the same ume up and down buttons point, it’s that the 5400FM’s speakers and one of the
a steel-grey ring running phone in this bracket. This is no camera phone Specifications large size. Build quality of constantly. The buttons on do not distort at high vol- cheapest 5.1 speakers you’ll
right around the sides that The screen itself is quite and we’ve seen much better Specifications: Screen – 3.0”, the woofer is good but the the woofer are also of poor umes in music and movies. come across.
adds a classy look. The cam- large and clear although 3-megapixel units and 240 x 400 pixels, 3 MP camera, satellites have a thin mesh quality. The frequency sweep test
era and phone screen lock we’ve seen better screens in there’s no flash. MP3 play- microSD expansion, 89 grams behind a cloth which isn’t The quality of the speak- did cause a tiny bit of dis- Contact: Intex Technologies
buttons are on one side and back quality is strictly so-so very strong. The design of ers is average. One of the tortion. In general, listening Phone: 09811037376
very easy to use despite their and another pain is LGs con- Contact: LG Electronics India the speakers themself lack major complaints like with to these speakers isn’t so E-mail: info@
small size owing to great tinued use of a proprietary Pvt. Ltd style and seem kind-of bor- most of the other Intex much fun. Watching movies intextechnologies.com
feedback, the volume connect for the same rather Phone: 91-120-2560900 ing. The design of the speakerswe’ve received is is fine but music isn’t as Web site: www.
up/down buttons aren’t as than a 3.5mm jack. Call qual- E-mail: VivekSingh@lgindia.com remote also looks outdated. the colouring of the sound. much fun with these speak- intextechnologies.com
good. LG has added the abili- ity and signal reception Web site: www.lgindia.com Batteries don’t fit well into The sound is ers. Price: Rs 3,950
ty to finger swipe through strength on the Cookie isn’t Price: Rs. 13,500 the remote. more empha- Connections to the
albums and this is called all that great and nowhere RATINGS The speakers come with sised towards speaker are made through RATINGS
“Free Touch”, an obvious rip- close to Nokia phones. Features a FM tuner which works
Features
off from Apple’s Multi Touch; Priced at Rs 13,500 its a Performance fairly alright and picked up
Performance
but it doesn’t work anywhere mixed bundle. Although not Ease of Use reception instantaneously
Build quality
at all as well which is why many phones can offer such Value for Money when we first put it on
Value for Money
there’s a stylus provided. Its a large touchscreen for the Overall without connecting it to
Overall
light years away from the price there are other prob- our PC. The woofer has a
80 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 81
Digital Tools l Bazaar
Mitashi TFD-7608 The player also has intereference. Even so, this
MMC, SD and MS card input player is great company on
DVDs on the go... support from the back as long journeys and will pro-
here have been many like a tablet PC. The buttons well as a USB port so that vide on-the-go entertain-
T mobile phones and PMPs
that allow users to watch
on the device were not very
good and felt toyish.
you can plug in a flash
drive. When we tried to play
ment whenever and wher-
ever you are. Also you can
videos and movies on them. The remote provided is something from a flash use this as a DVD player in
But seriously, watching the also not that great in quali- drive, however, we found your car.
videos on that small a ty, but has additional that it takes 5 clicks to start
screen is really painful. So options like zoom, and at a movie. This player sup- Specifications
here is a solution for those least the buttons here have ports a wide range of for- 7-inch widescreen TFT Color
commuters who like to a better feel to them than mats including DIVX Display with In-built TV Tuner,
catch up on their video and those on teh player. Another problem we DVD/CD/MP3/DIVX/JPEG, built-
movie watching needs with Although one must wonder spotted was while turning in SD/MMC/ MS Card Reader &
a bigger screen. The Mitashi why a portable player needs the screen the TFT flickers DivX function
TFD-7608 is portable DVD a remote in at the base. We
player with a load of fea- th first looked into it Contact: Mitashi Edutainment
tures to offer, it’s silver on place? more and saw Pvt. Ltd.
the outside and has a black Especially that any time Phone: 022 -25006661
finish on the inside. since you the screen is E-mail: sujay@mitashi.com,
This portable device has can’t view it disturbed archie@mitashi.com
a 3.5mm headphone jack, from more there is a Web site: www.mitashi.com
AV-in, AV-out, and the vol- than an arms slight Price: Rs. 7,490
ume control on the right. length.
On the left you can plug
RATINGS
your TV wire into. When
Features
you open the player, the
Performance
first thing you notice is that
Build quality
the screen can be rotated
Value for Money
and turned all the way
Overall
around and made to rest
archive data from your drive seen, though not as polished
McAcfee Internet Security 2009 to either a optical disc, a dif- or as simplistic.
As good as the many others ferent location on your drive, The price of Rs. 2,699 is
or one on the network. fine as you can use this to
ith security being such very detailed customisation Spams in mails are also protect upto three PCs. As a
W a big concern these
days, there have been many
windows that allow you to
tweak each component.
taken care of, as well as
files sent through instant
security solution, it’s not
miles ahead of other suites.
new developers coming up McAfee’s Internet messengers. There are addi-
with antivirus software and Security 2009 comes with tional features like the Requirements:
then evolving into complete pretty much everything Password vault, which Windows 2000 (SP4 and high-
security suites. Some of the required to safeguard your allows you to securely store er), Windows XP, Windows
older well-known security system from everything from your passwords. Vista, 256 MB of RAM, 150 MB
suites have been overshad- virus and worms to hacker There are other interest- of free disk space.
owed by them. attacks. Parental control is ing bits like the Shredder fea-
The installation is simple also part of the suite. ture that permanently Contact: McAfee
and you are first prompted Keywords and wildcards deletes files or even an entire Phone: 022-40291300
to uninstall and disable any can be used to block sites. partition or drive. The system Email: hemant_baghel
previous security suites or The McAfee Data Backup fea- cleanup feature allows you to @mcafee.com
components that you have ture is one that lets you delete all unnecessary items Web site: www.mcafee.com
installed. The interface is tra- such as temporary files from Price: Rs. 2,699 (Upto 3 PCs)
ditional as compared to installers, cache from
Norton’s recent security browsers, undeleted registry RATINGS
suites. To keep the abundant keys and so on. With all its
Features
features from confusing features, it is a little bloated
Performance
users, the suite lets you tog- and slow at times.
Build quality
gle between a Basic and McAfee’s Internet
Value for Money
Advanced menu. Each of the Security 2009 is at par with
Overall
features in the suite have the security software we’ve
82 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Digital Tools l Agent 001
Agent 001
Peripheral Vision
Agent 001 goes shopping for gaming peripherals
O
ver the years games have become 1,400 — and is a real steal for its price. able with. Microsoft’s Sidewinder and
more demanding on our hard- The Logitech G5 is a laser mouse with a Sidewinder X5 are other gaming options:
ware as they offer greater immer- 2,000 dpi sensor and is priced at Rs. the former is costlier at Rs. 5,100, and the
sion. One aspect of gaming remains 2,500. You can even configure the latter sells for Rs. 2,500. In comparison to
unchanged — your interaction with the weight distribution of the mouse using Logitech and Razer, these feel a little
game. Most of us use a cheap keyboard provided weights. Logitech’s latest tacky, particularly the X5. The Habu is an
and mouse while gaming. While this offering; the G9 sports a 3200 dpi sen- older option from Microsoft with a
may do for playing the odd game, if you sor and has a customisable grip that slightly improved MX518 sensor under its
care to call yourself a gamer, you will def- can be adjusted for width depending on hood. It’s priced at Rs. 2,500. For me, a
initely feel the inadequacy of a common the size of your hand. It’s priced at Rs. mouse can’t get better than the MX518 —
keyboard and mouse. Customisable but- 4,400. Razer’s Lachesis is a competitor superbly priced now, I bought mine for
tons, macro keys, high-sensitivity mice to the G9 and sports an identical sen- Rs. 2,600 a couple of years back and
and joysticks — are what you should look sor; it’s a fair bit costlier at Rs. 5,400. It’s thought it decent value; at its current
to as tools of the gaming trade. the same size as their Copperhead, and price, well, it’s a steal.
My hunt for new gaming gear began both are aimed gamers with slightly I was also looking for a controller for
with the demise of my two-year old smaller hands, in my opinion. The hack-n-slash games to use with my PC.
Logitech MX518. It had served me Microsoft’s Xbox 360 wired controller is
through countless hours of Quake 3: available for as little Rs. 1,650 these days.
Arena, Warcraft III and Battlefield 2142; At this price, it’s a steal as it comes with
not to mention a host of single-play- force feedback. The wireless version of
er titles, including Crysis. The the controller costs Rs. 2,700 but you
impending release of Prince Of also need a wireless receiver unit if
Persia also had me seriously think- you’re going to use it with your PC.
ing about biting the bullet and Sony’s PS3 controller (called DualShock
buying a game controller. So I need- 3) is also available; the wired version of
ed a new mouse and a game controller. the same costs Rs. 2,900 while the wire-
I already have a superb keyboard — less version is priced at Rs. 4,500. I did
the Logitech G15 — which has beauti- see a Saitek wired controller priced at
fully backlit keys; a must for after-dark Rs. 2,500; availability of this brand will
fraggers. The key spacing is a little Copperhead is priced at Rs. 4,000. be an issue in most places although the
more than what most keyboards offer, Personally I find both of these mice to higher end Saitek products are very
which is great for gaming. There are be very small for my hand and there- good. I highly recommend the wired
also 12 macro keys; superb for hack-n- fore uncomfortable, although their Xbox 360 controller — it’s cheap, it’s
slash and RTS games. The G15 is priced lower profiles (compared to Logitech widespread and works well.
at Rs. 4,400 and while that may seem a mice) do help to alleviate stress on the For racing games, Logitech’s G25
lot, it’s a beautiful keyboard for hard- wrist. The Razer Diamondback is the and Momo are available. The Momo is
core gamers. Razer’s Tarantula is same size and shape as the Copperhead, excellent value at Rs. 4500. It has two
another good offering, although it has but sports a slightly lower resolution pedals, a 240-degree steering wheel
less macro keys than the G15 and not (1600 dpi) infrared sensor; it’s priced at turn and force feedback. The G25 is a
all its keys are backlit. The Tarantula Rs. 3,000. Razer’s Deathadder is my premium offering and I must say it
retails for Rs. 6,200 in India which is favourite mouse from the Razer series. looks lovely with a leather wrapped
way too much for what it offers. There It sports a 1600 dpi infrared sensor and wheel and its F1-style paddles. The
are a couple of options from the likes feels very close to the MX518 in hand; steering is ultra realistic with 2.5 turns
of iBall and Zebronics but these are but it’s slightly lower, and its more from end to end and the dual-motor
half-hearted attempts at gaming key- rounded profile fits my hand perfectly. feedback ensures that you feel not only
boards and not worth the premium. Steel Series’ Ikari, a 1600 dpi mouse, is bumps but also curves in the road and
When it comes to gaming mice priced at Rs. 2,000 and exudes a great embankments — this is the real deal
there are four major players — Logitech, feel. The only drawback is that its clicks for racing fans. The only downside is
Microsoft, Razer, and Steel Series. are a little too soft for my taste. the price — Rs. 17,750 — although it’s
When looking at gaming mice, remem- Do not be fooled by resolutions — all fairly priced in my opinion; for the
ber that there are two types of sensors — these mice track really well and a 3,200 experience it offerss.
infrared and laser. Laser sensors have dpi sensor might not always be better I ended up picking the Xbox 360 con-
higher resolutions and offer greater than a 2,000 dpi sensor since the extra troller and the Logitech MX518. Now
scrolling speed (not to be mistaken for precision means the mouse gets ultra- fraggers will once again quake; while I
accuracy) than infrared mice. Logitech’s sensitive to even minute movements — get down and dirty with the prince. I
MX518, an infrared mouse, costs Rs. not something most gamers are comfort- agent001@thinkdigit.com
www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 83
Digital Tools l Agent 001 Ask Agent 001
I wish to upgrade my PC. My PC configuration is Canon’s DC310, their IS and recording medium. Would
1.5 GB of DDR2 667 MHz memory, ATi Radeon Ask Away! a 35x optical zoom be sufficient for shooting in the hill
X1550 Series graphics card, Intel E4600 CPU, Asus Want a tech product, but stations? Which of the above models fits the best for
P5KC Motherboard and 400 watt SMPS. I want to don’t know how to go my purpose?
about buying it? E-mail
upgrade my memory and GPU first. I will also upgrade agent001@thinkdigit.com Chayan
my processor but a few months down the line. My with your complete
budget for the graphics card is Rs. 5,000 and for the contact details, and he First of all let me say that I find HDD-based
memory is Rs. 3,500. Which brand is good and what might answer them here! camcorders much better than disc- or tape-
Please note that
sort of a performance increase can I expect with a based ones. They are also compact in comparison.
Agent001 only answers
memory upgrade? Should i change my PSU for my con- purchase-related A 35x optical zoom is enough for most situations;
figuration? My budget for the processor is Rs. 8,000. questions in this space. and in any case camcorders with a higher zoom
Ihsan Ibrahim are rare and suitably price i.e. beyond your budget.
Please use the camcorder you intend to buy to
The weakest points in your configuration is ascertain the effectiveness of its optical zoom;
your CPU and GPU. You haven’t mentioned which for me is the most important factor when
what your usage pattern is, but I would recom- buying a camcorder for outdoor purposes.
mend DDR2 800 MHz memory in a dual channel
configuration if you’re on a really tight budget or I have planned to purchase Sony Ericsson’s W595
1066 MHz memory if you can spend a thousand cellphone. It’s priced at Rs. 14,000. I want a
bucks more. Opt for two sticks of 2 GB each for a mobile with good music solution. Can you suggest
total of 4 GB. For the graphics card I suggest you any other worthy mobiles around Rs. 14k to 15k?
invest in an NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT-based Merbin Shyju
graphics card. EVGA’s 9600 GT is a good option.
Expect to pay Rs. 6,000 for this – which is a steal in It depends on what exactly you’re looking
my opinion. Intel’s E8400 (3.0 GHz), is a good for. If you want a feature-rich Symbian
processor for a powerful, multipurpose PC. It’s a based cellphone then I would point you towards
Wolfdale based dual-core processor with 6 MB of the Nokia N73 Music Edition. Else if you wanted an
L2 cache and is priced at around the Rs. 8,000 mark. SE phone I’d suggest the K850i – which has a good
Expect a 10 percent increase in performance with camera and also great music quality. This should
your memory upgrade and a much higher increase be priced at around the Rs. 15,500 mark and is
in performance with the recommended CPU and superb for the price. The SE K800i/K810i phones
GPU. Change your PSU; Corsair’s VX 450 is a good are also good for you – they offer excellent music
buy at Rs. 3,500 and will power your PC. quality and a very good camera. These phones are
cheaper and the K810i is actually priced around
I am planning to buy a new machine with an AMD the Rs. 9,000 mark; meaning you can pick up an
Phenom X4 9550, JetWay HA-06, Seagate 1 Ter- iPod Nano 4 GB with the remaining cash and get
abyte (32 MB Buffer) HDD, Sony 20 X SATA DVD writer yourself a good PMP as well.
and a 17-inch LCD monitor. I am a general home user
although I play the odd game. Please suggest a suitable I am planning to buy a PC. It will be used for lots
power supply and cabinet and also a good DVD writer of business stuff, including the stock market
apart from Sony. monitoring etc. You see I am very fond of gaming also.
Cyrus Chowbey I would like a gaming rig combined with a business
power machine. Could you suggest a good configura-
Why don’t you go with a Core 2 Duo E8400 tion within a budget of around Rs 70,000?
instead? It is faster than the X4 9550 in all Rohan Kumar
the tasks you’ve mentioned. If you want a quad Here’s my recommendation:
core, Intel’s own Q6600 will also be a better option. Going for a quad core doesn’t make sense
Both of these cost the same as the X4 9550. For a unless you are willing to sacrifice on some other
power supply I recommend a VIP 500 watt PSU component and get an Intel Q9550 (2.83 GHz)
which will cost you around Rs. 3,000. Look at the processor which will cost Rs. 17,500. I
CoolerMaster 690 for a cabinet; it’s a great looker
and cools excellently. If you want a decent gaming PC Configuration
experience with older games look at a graphics Components My Suggestion Price
card – the GeForce 8600 GT is a good entry level Processor C2D E8500 (3.16 GHz) 9,500
Motherboard MSI P 45 Platinum 10,000
chipset; it should be priced at the Rs. 3,500 mark.
RAM 2 x 2 GB DDR2 1066 MHz (Kingston, Corsair) 5,000
LG DVD writers are good alternatives to Sony and
Graphics Card ZOTAC GeForce 9800GTX+ AMP! 12,000
I personally feel they’re more reliable. Hard Drive Seagate 1 TB 7200.11 6,800
Monitor Dell SP 2208 WFP 15,000
I have decided to buy a camcorder that fits in a Cabinet CM 690 4,000
budget of 20k. Please let me know about the 3 Power Supply Corsair HX 520 6,000
models: Samsung’s VP_DX103i, Sony’s DCR-DVD610 and 68,300
84 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
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Digital
Digital Leisure l Touched By Tech
Digital
88 Second-hand PCs: A first-hand report
Business
How Technology Can Help Your Organisation
High in the meltdown
Siddharth Parwatay that open to let out the heat. Have your meter
checked if you’re getting outlandish bills. It’s a
There’s a lot you
I
n today’s economic turmoil, everyone’s look- matter of filling out and submitting a simple
ing at ways to cut down on costs — small can do to reduce form at your electricity company’s office.
businesses are no exception. In fact, small your operating
businesses are probably hit the hardest as most Here are things you can do on the IT front:
of them operate on limited rolling capital and
costs in these 1. Switching to LCD monitors is a good idea.
don’t have deep pockets to sustain themselves days of econom- Some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations
in these times. And they say, desperate times call ic turmoil — show that on an average you should recover the
for desperate measures. What can your business from optimally additional investment of LCD over CRT in just
do to save costs? Here, we look at some cost-cut- three years by way of accrued savings on elec-
ting measures that you can deploy.
using your air tricity. Not to mention the space saving, and
conditioners to hey — they look better. Incidentally, LCDs pro-
Cut your electricity bills using your print- duce less heat, so a marginal decrease in air
Utility costs can be a killer. For example, setting ers efficiently conditioning costs cannot be ruled out.
the air conditioner to 26 degrees will help a
long way — the temperature remains pleasant 2. Switch off the mains to your PCs before leav-
enough to work while drastically reducing your ing. Know that your equipment draws power
electricity bill. During summers, reduce air- even when they’re off. So when you see the
conditioning costs by scheduling your work small green light on any device, it’s drawing at
around the hottest hours of the day, if you work least a few watts. A recent UN-sponsored study
from a home-office. Use fans and ventilators found that up to 10 per cent of your electricity
Ashwini Baviskar
www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 85
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Digital Business l Feature
bills can be reduced simply by switching off the too, is good enough to give you decent browsing
power to computers and other electronics such speeds when split into say three PCs over a net-
as cellphone chargers. work. Firewalls and filters are a must unless you
3. Tweak the computer’s power manage- want your employees to be loitering around on
ment for optimum savings. We’re often away Orkut and using up precious bandwidth and
from our screens — coffee breaks, telephone data limits. If you’re on a limited data line, you
calls, and numerous other distractions always need to have a caching server / proxy, so that fre-
keep popping up to pull you away from your quently visited web pages are stored on local
desk. Screen savers that usually kick in at such drives for quick retrieval. This means that these
times won’t save your screens and won’t do web pages are not downloaded each and every
much for your power bills either. Keep the set- time you visit them (Check the box ‘Cutting
tings such that your monitor switches off after internet costs’ to learn how).
five minutes, or less, of being idle. 2. If your usage is more download-intensive,
opt for the unlimited plans. Any good unlimit-
Cut your phone bills ed plan these days should be not be more than
Cutting down on phone costs can be a tricky Rs. 1,500 for a 256kbps line.
business considering the multitude of offers 3. These days, for most businesses, however
and plans out there. The key is to analyse your small, having a web site is a must. Accordingly,
usage pattern. many small businesses do host simple web sites,
1. Find out what type of calls your business for which they end up paying a lot of money as
is required make — whether more calls will go domain registration charges and web space.
out to cell phones or to land lines — whether While in fact web space is available for cheap
STD or local? and at times, at zero cost.
2. Find out from where most of the call- You should not pay more
ing happens — whether land lines or than Rs. 450 for domain
mobiles? Once you know, choose a plan and registration. If your web
service provider to meet your requirements. site is hosted by one of
3. An increasing number of people are sav- those web space resellers
ing money by using Voice over Internet that sprouted at every
Protocol (VoIP) clients, such as Skype. While corner during the dot-
the quality of service varies, it can be more com boom, then please
cost-effective than landlines. Skype can be look elsewhere. Host your
used to make international as well as domes- Free Proxy: Setting up caching website on, freeweb-
tic internet calls. While international calls are space.com or at least paid,
charged a nominal amount, the domestic calls but cheaper Indian servers. Once your domain is
are free (Check the box ‘Setting up Skype’ for registered, all you need to do is redirect it to
details on how to install and use Skype). There where your web site is hosted. For example, buy
are software such as TeamSpeak which will allow the domain www.yourbusiness.com but host it at
you to host a voice-chat server for multiple users http://yourbusiness.freewebspace. com.
to log into. So conference calls within the same 4. The same goes for email. If your friendly
building or even branch offices can be achieved. neighbourhood web space reseller is charging you
4. If you have a number of employees working for an email interface, you need to stop right
and you’re not constantly around to supervise, it’s away. Zoho.com has solutions for small office users,
probably a good idea to keep STD active on only whereby your emails are pulled to Zoho’s servers.
some lines. Phone lock codes are also a good idea. You get the Zoho interface that is quite similar to
5. Use free SMS services such as Gmail and migration is also pretty straight for-
www.way2sms.com. After all, a penny saved is a ward. The best part — it’s free for up to ten users!
penny earned. All you need to do is configure your domain and
e-mail information with
Cut your internet costs Zoho. Your email will
Internet costs for your office can remain you@yourbusiness
be brought down through some .com, but you’ll now be
tweaking. checking mails at some-
1. Analyse your usage pattern. Is thing like http:// busi-
it more of just email and light brows- ness.mail.zoho.com/a/ your-
ing, or is a fair bit of downloading business.com/#inbox.
required? If it is the former, we’d rec- Google also offers a
ommend going in for speed and similar service, and
bandwidth as against high-data lim- they’re trying to hide it.
its. Any 256kbps connection these Go to www.google.com/a/,
days offers 500MB of data transfer. click the big blue “See
This is more than sufficient for details and sign up” but-
browsing and email. The bandwidth, FreeProxy: Setting up the proxy server ton. Although it looks
86 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
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Digital Business l Feature
like you have to pay for this service, look for a
link that says “Compare to Standard Edition”.
when you click this, you will see a “Get Started” Using Power Management
button under “Standard Edition”. From here on
your PC, go to Start > Control Panel >
you can just follow instructions, and get over 7 To change the power management settings for
Click Power Options. Set the Turn off moni-
GB email space for up to 50 users.
Other tips tor to After 5 minutes, and turn off hard disks
to After 10 minutes, and standby to 15
minutes. This will significantly save electricity.
There are other things you can try, like printing
on both sides of the paper. You save money and
the environment! Some printers automatically
print on both sides of the paper. If your printer
does not, use the “print on both sides” mode, Skype Setup
where you only have to manually reverse the stack
after one side is printed. Also, avoid To communicate between branches of your
printing unless absolutely required. office, make sure you have Skype downloaded
If you must print, then print in and installed on the PCs in your office. You can
draft / economy mode by default. also have conference calls between offices
conference calls. Click on Call > Start
So far we have told you what using Skype. Upto 24 employees can join these
Conference Call. Add users from your con-
you can, and should do, to cut cor-
tacts and click on start.
ners. But while running leaner is a
must, not every penny-pinching
measure is a good one — so here are
some strict No-Nos. Certain things
are really based on common sense.
For example, if your business relies TeamSpeak
on a web face then don’t compro-
mise on that front. Follow these set TeamSpeak is an application that allows you to
of instructions and you should be host a voice server on your PC. You can connect
well on your way to frugality in to this server and have a voice chat / conference.
these trying times. Teamspeak setup The application is actually meant for gaming pur-
siddharth.parwatay@thinkdigit.com poses, but can be put to commercial use. It’s free
and works effectively on LAN. So in case you have
an office, which is on different levels or floors
Sharing the internet
this could be a useful utility. It’s like having a con-
To share an internet connection between multiple computers, a proxy software is ference call on, all the time which is something
required. Several solutions such asFreeProxy and AnalogX are available online. not even possible on a telephone-based inter-
Download and install FreeProxy from www.handcraftedsoftware.org. It is simple, com, To setup, download TeamSpeak client as
easy to use and also functions as a caching server and web site filter / blocker. well as TeamSpeak server from www.teams-
peak.com. While installing the server, you will get
Click on Define > Define Ports. Here you can define ports for Http,
To Share a Connection using FreeProxy follow these steps: a temporary username and password. Make a
socks, etc. (Usually 8080, 1080 etc). Click on Done.
note of both admin and superadmin passwords.
These passwords can be changed to your prefer-
work. Click on Start/Stop to activate proxy server. All PCs will now access
Now enter this in the browser’s settings on the PCs connected to the net- ence later. Once installed, the TeamSpeak server
and click on Administration. The server is
will minimise to the system tray. Right-click on it
the internet through this proxy server.
managed through a web interface, so a browser
Click on Define > Define Cache. Tick the Activate the cache check
To Activate Caching: page will open where you need to put in your
username as superadmin and password. Once
box. Select the control and data path. Enter the size limit of cache depending within the interface, click on SuperAdmin manag-
Done.
on usage. 300MB should be fine. Set the expiry to around 7 days. Click on er in the left pane. Click on add client to create
user accounts for all your employees. Assign user
name and password for each employee. Once this
Click on the Ban List button in the top bar. Click on New and create a cate-
To ban certain web sites: is done install the TeamSpeak client on all your
gory, say Bad. Click on Manage Category Details and add the URLs that click on Connection > Connect in the
PCs. To connect to the server from another PC
you wish to block. Click Save, and then Activate > Done. Double-click on
Ports and then on Permissions > Add Resource. In Resource type,
TeamSpeak Client application. Add details of the
select Ban-List URL or IP Address. Under Permission, select
server such as server IP address and nickname.
Forbidden for all users. Click Done. You can also add filters. To do
Enter user name and password and click connect.
this in resource type, select Full URL or Path Filter. Under path, you
The server’s IP can be found out by right-clicking
can type *download* to block all URLs containing the word download.
on the server icon in the system tray and moving
the cursor over “Your IPs”.
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Digital Business l Smart SoHo
Second-hand
Siddharth Parwatay
A First-hand Report
PCs bished or a second-hand computer generally
fall into one of two categories. The first cate-
Today’s PCs may
C
an anyone’s scrapped system, be some- gory of people need a computer for fairly stan-
one else’s dream machine? Well, this cer- be more power- dard tasks such as internet browsing, word
tainly holds true in the second-hand PC ful than ever processing, spreadsheet work, etc.
market. Just because your PC can’t run the lat- Applications of this nature have not changed
est game doesn’t mean it’s trash. It can possibly before, but much over the years in terms of the demands
perform mundane office tasks. Many don’t what about that they make on a computer’s resources.
know this, but there exists a large secondary PC affordability? Therefore, a second-hand computer which
market out there — with its own set of rules of may be a few years old, would be quite capa-
Second-hand
participation and provision. A stream of such ble of running even modern versions of these
so-called obsolete PCs form the foundation of PCs offer the programs and at a fraction of the price of a
this market. Some consumers frequently perfect budget brand-new machine. Besides, when you’re
upgrade their PCs and sell their old ones in the solution for running such mundane tasks, a brand new
second-hand market — largely in the metros. A machine can be an expensive overkill. The sec-
significant portion of these proliferate to rural
your small ond category of users might require a
areas, where people may not have the means or office.
inclination to invest in the latest configura-
tions. Such second-hand machines also find
their way to educational institutes, offices, and
businesses, in tier II and III cities. A Gartner
report states that “one in every 12 PCs in use
worldwide is a secondary PC.” An estimated 10
per cent is donated to NGOs and other non-
profit organisations. Let’s try to understand the
specifics of the second-hand PC market by
answering some fundamental questions.
Why would you want a second-hand
computer?
Well the simplest and quickest answer to that
question is price! People who buy a refur-
Shrikrishna Patkar
88 www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009
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Digital Business l Smart SoHo
machine to do some specific task — as part of computers and has been in the business for
an office or a home network — for example an over ten years. “Computers, although not
email, a database, or a web server. Again, built to last forever, are certainly built to last.
tasks which an older computer is quite capa- Especially the older ones which had better
ble of handling. build quality”, Jitu opines. “[They] almost
Gordon Moore, the former CEO of Intel never break down... if one does fail, chances
once observed that “the power of semicon- are that your new PC can also do just that”,
ductor technology doubles every 18 months”, says Jitu Bhai. He also points out that it’s a
and so the average computer manufactured good step you can take to do your bit for the
today has specifications which dwarf those environment. Remember that with very little
available just a few years ago. But the measure taken for proper disposal of e-waste,
resource requirement of day-to-day software most of the redundant PCs in India will be
has not evolved at the same pace. A computer dumped in non-environment-friendly ways.
made three years ago will run office, data- Reuse and reduce is the formula.
base, accounting and other mainstream
applications, and browse the net, as effective- Where do these PCs come from?
ly as the latest PC. This is quite a blessing for As we pointed out earlier, one source is the
small businesses looking to purchase a few home user, probably indulging in a two-year
additional computers, especially in these dire upgrade cycle. But another important source
economic times. of these PCs are large companies that have
“Well what about durability?” you may regular update cycles. Companies operating
ask. Jitu Bhai who is the proprietor of Jitu in verticals such as IT, telecom, banking and
Bhai Joone Computer has some reassuring
things to say. As his company’s name sug-
gests, he deals exclusively in second-hand
Things to keep in mind while
buying second-hand PCs
1. Avoid Branded PCs. Opt for assembled -
Branded PCs have customised motherboards
which are hard to come by. Their slots can’t
accommodate generic components, the SMPS
can’t be sourced and numerous other problems.
An assembled PC, on the other hand, is easily
upgradeable.
2. Avoid RD and SD RAM – Again, these compo-
nents are very difficult to source. Even if you
can source the RAM, it'll be expensive due to
non availability. When you are the seller
3. Opt for Samsung and LG screens – These, When most people sell off their computers, they
according to dealers, are the most reliable and do a simple formatting of their hard drive. This
they have a wide service network. Like most is certainly not enough. They put themselves at
things Chinese, avoid Chinese monitors. risk of being defrauded or of having their identi-
4. Operate the PC to check if its in working ties stolen because many disks are not properly
order - Look under the hood for components wiped of data. Second-hand computers are a
that are within warranty. For example most potential treasure-trove of personal informa-
hard disk drives come with a 3 year warranty. tion, and can be exploited to devastating effect.
Also check for bad sectors in the harddisk. Professor Martin Gill of the University of
Leicester and his team, in a study purchased six
5. Check to see if the cooling fan is working
second-hand computers from various sources
properly - Any abnormal whirring noises could
and conducted a forensic data-analysis on each
mean it has gathered dust and needs cleaning.
one using off the shelf computer software. They
6. Give the specs a thorough look to make sure discovered half had not been securely wiped. In
Settings > Control Panel > System >
they match with the ones advertised - Go to one case, there had been no attempt to wipe the
Device Manager to check the listed features.
contents! Make sure you use a data-shredding
software on your most personal files before sell-
7. Try to get original documentation - Receipts ing your PC. A good data wiping software is
always come in handy. Erase v 5.3 which can be downloaded from
http://www.tolvanen.com/eraser/download.shtml
8. Avoid Celerons - No explanation required!
www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 89
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Digital Business l Smart SoHo
finance, where the criticality of IT infrastruc- Why does it make sense for SoHo’s?
ture is very high, experience a high churn for According to Jitu Bhai, the propensity to buy
PCs that are phased out more rapidly. It is second-hand PCs for offices is less in the
here that the technology obsolescence factor Metros. This is because the gap between new
essentially acts as a driver for the second- and second-hand has narrowed over the years.
hand PC market. Until recently, banking and Yet the thumb rule remains that a second-
finance companies could easily afford to be hand machine can be bought at half the price
slightly frivolous. Faisal of Star Infotech, of a new one. As per current prices, a decent
which operates out of Lamington Road and second-hand PC can be bought for Rs. 6,000 to
deals in second-hand PCs puts it well — “large 8,000 as opposed to a new entry-level model
companies will routinely go in for a yearly for around Rs. 13,000. This translates to
revamp in hardware and sell the old comput- Rs. 5,000 saving on just a single PC — if your
ers to dealers for near scrap value.” However, business requires more than five PCs, you are
he is quick to add that “most of my stock looking at a substantial saving.
comes from home users”. Faisal is now look- People in the metros also have several
ing forward to expanding his sales reach by hang-ups regarding after-sales service. Anyone
targeting SMEs that require 15 to 20 comput- trying to rubbish the entire second-hand busi-
ers for routine work. Jitu Bhai also offers ness PCs should know that most of the players
some interesting insights. “A lot of pieces offer some form of warranty. The warranty
come from customs where auctions are regu- period may range from a week to a month and
larly held to get rid of unclaimed or seized most secondary sellers offer maintenance con-
goods. Big businesses are a good source but tracts through partner firms. Most don’t offer
we get their used computers indirectly, on-site warranty, but are happy to service the
through large PC suppliers who are required faulty components if you’re willing to bring
to buy back hundreds of PCs from their the equipment to their office. Many others go
clients as part of exchange schemes”, says Jitu by the axiom, “Walk out of the door and it’s
Bhai. Another source is imports. Some may your responsibility...” Avoid these guys.
frown and call it e-waste dumping, but large Tier II and tier III cities are more open to
quantities of high-end used computers find the concept of used PCs. Mr. Goyal, a cyber-
their way to Nehru Place in Delhi and sec- cafe owner in Jaipur had started off with three
ondary markets in Kolkata. These PCs are usu- PCs that he bought from Jitu Bhai. He has now
ally leased by rental companies abroad, and expanded to fifteen and is perfectly satisfied.
after a pre-defined deadline are considered A woman in Mira Road, who does not wish to
redundant. Of course, they are far from be named, has several second-hand computers
redundant. Many of Jitu Bhai’s components that form the back-bone of her small medical
come from PC manufactures who keep stand- transcription business.
by pieces of components to cover replacement
guarantees. The buffers are quite high and Where do you start from?
many pieces remain unused, and find them- Your friendly neighbourhood assembler should
selves in the secondary market. be able to get you a good deal or at least get you
in touch with a second-hand seller. You will also
find players like Jitu Bhai who have their own
A standard configuration web site (www.jitubhai.com) that offer compo-
A standard configuration: nents, as well as fully set-up PCs. If you pick up
Intel Pentium 4, 2GHz , 256MB RAM, 40GB Hard in bulk, most suppliers will offer some form of
drive discount and either a preferential or an
CD-Writer, keyboard, and mouse enhanced after-sales service. A simple Google
15-inchCRT monitor search will net you results on web sites like
Rs. 6,000 Indiamart. Remember, some people will have
no qualms about calling a spade a spade — in
Web Resources: Classified web sites will help you this case, a second-hand PC. But the
find individual products as well as second-hand euphemisms are aplenty — pre-owned, used,
dealers in your city or town. Here are some refurbished are some examples. All these terms
examples. can be quite confusing and certainly inter-
http://www.adpost.com/in/computers/ changeable. Although refurbished ideally
http://www.trademart.in/ implies that the computers have been thor-
http://dir.indiamart.com/cgi/compcatsearch.mp? oughly serviced and faulty parts have been
ss=second%20hand%20computer replaced by the dealer. Most dealers do this any-
http://www.sscomptech.com/used-computer.htm way, so even if the computer has been lying in a
http://www.secondhandmall.com/ dusty office basement, it’ll look like it’s in a
http://www.jitubhai.com/ fairly decent condition. ■
siddharth.parwatay@thinkdigit.com
90 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Digital Leisure l Lead Feature
Digital
94 Games coming
in 2009 100 Developing in
India 104 Mirror's
Edge
Leisure
Technology Beyond Work
Lead Feature
Alternate
Reality Gaming
Ever wonder what it would be like to be a part of Siddharth Parwatay
an adventure like Indiana Jones or a story right
W
elcome to the immersive world of
out of a Ludlum thriller? We all have, right? And Alternate Reality Games (ARG) — a form
so we play hundreds of RPGs and MMOs to expe- of gaming that uses the real world as
rience a little bit of that thrill. But what if you a platform, while involving multiple media and
could really be a part of something like that — game elements, a powerful storyline that may be
affected by participants’ ideas or actions, all the
really a part of it? while relying on the internet as the central binding
medium. ARG is where the line between games and
reality starts to blur, mainly as a result of its pri-
mary mantra — TINAG (this is not a game). Reminds
you of an obscure Michael Douglas movie called The
Game? Precisely!
MV Sajeev
www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRuaRy 2009 91
Digital Leisure l Lead Feature Digital Leisure l Lead Feature
While being part of an aRG, say you encounter ably has its roots in the early television show also come up with newer puzzles and sub-plots to of the games in spontaneous and occasionally
a bomb which is steadily counting down in the promotion campaigns which sent viewers on so keep the players engaged. They have to continually humorous ways.
back seat of a car you’ve gone to investigate. as it called “Treasure Hunts”. Then there was the whole keep up with the combined intellect of the player and all the interaction between players made
nears zero you begin to wonder, if only for a brief Beatles “Paul is dead” controversy where thou- community and in fact, be one step ahead — so finding friends to team up with on Xbox Live really
second, whether it’ll actually blow up or a flag will sands of people believed that Paul McCartney no more linear game play. Still, if all this doesn’t very easy. So sure, there is marketing, but it was
pop up saying “boom” – that’s how real an aRG died in 1966 and was replaced by a look-alike and excite you and you ask “hey so what, why should really cool marketing that gave players something
can feel to its participants. Some of the nascent sound-alike. People went about trying to prove I play?” well then maybe you shouldn’t. Or maybe to talk about, something to enjoy.
aRGs had participants just stumbling upon a web this by uncovering hints among the Beatles’ many you’ll try to give it a shot if we tell you that aRGs
site, claiming certain anomalous events have taken recordings that alluded to this fact, such as state- are popular amongst female gamers. Sound inter- ARG in India
place or are going to take place, and from then on, ments heard when a song is played backwards, esting now? Is there really a scope for aRGs in India? Does the
clues would send them on an online adventure symbolic interpretations of obscure lyrics, and In any case, if you’re not the puzzle solving type, average Indian gamer want thinking games, or is he
trail. But instead of presenting a chronologically ambiguous imagery on album covers. there is a way out for you too. Thousands of enthusi- more into the shoot-em-up, high definition type of
unified coherent narrative, the story would be But the true seminal work in aRG was The Beast, asts lurk around on the periphery to just follow the entertainment?
discovered in scattered pieces across the Internet so called because an early asset list for the project plot, and put in an occasional forum post. The great Not really. IIM Indore’s online puzzle game
and other media, allowing players to reassemble contained 666 files. deal of community interaction might just facilitate Kluless got 12 Million hits a month. It was a series
it, supply connective tissue, and determine what The Beast was set in the year 2142, fifty years meeting some interesting people. of levels, which required the player not only to
it meant. In effect, the players would themselves after the events chronicled in AI. There were a few think but be resourceful by googling stuff and
not know whether they’re part of a game, a hoax, overlapping entry points to the game, or “rabbit ARG as a marketing and promotion tool thinking laterally. although a precursor, it wasn’t
a prank or just some wild goose chase. holes”. First, some trailers and posters for AI had unlikely beneficiaries of aRGs are filmmakers, an aRG in the true sense of the genre.
The one thing that ties all aRGs together is a credit for Jeanine Salla as Sentient Machine who find that promoting movies through this Perhaps India’s first real aRG was hosted
that you interact with the fictional world using Therapist hidden among the credits for Spielberg form of interactive entertainment really gets the as a part of Malhar, the all India college fest
things that you interact with on a daily basis in the and the actors. Second, one of the trailers had buzz going. Steven Spielberg’s aI did it with The of St. Xavier’s college, Mumbai. Dubbed the
real world. also, you aren’t interacting as a char- a telephone number concealed in the markings Beast, one of the first mass aIGs attracting over 2 “Richard Burns Project”, participants had just
acter, as you would in most computer and video on the promotional text; if a player called this million active users. as much fun as the Puppet-masters who were
games. you also don’t need any special equipment, number and followed the given instructions he or and it’s not just film and TV; even the music pulling their strings! Players were immersed in
as you would with most console games. Most aRGs she eventually received an email stating in part industry is taking to aRGs. Year Zero was an alter- a plot involving disappearance, espionage and
take advantage of computers and the internet (web that “Jeanine is the key” and that “you’ve seen her nate reality game based on the Nine Inch Nails semi-paranormal elements, thinly connected to
sites and emails) as well as phones and even the name before.” concept album of the same name. The game was actual events in Mumbai’s history like the 26/7
occasional live event - finding something hidden Each rabbit hole led to questions about Jeanine launched just before the album was scheduled floods and the World War II era dockyard blast.
in your city, gathering around payphones, or even Salla, especially since one would not expect a to release. In response to criticism regarding all the while players were actively solving web-
live parties with character interaction! film made in 2001 to require the services of a this form of promotion for the album, Trent based, audio and visual puzzles to progress to
The bulk of the game-play happens online in robo-therapist! Googling Jeanine brought up sev- Reznor, frontman of the band, stated “The term the next stage. The final leg had them running
the form of solving puzzles, conducting research, eral web pages set in the fictional world of the “marketing” sure is a frustrating one for me all over south Mumbai in the wee hours of the
and interacting with in-game characters and com- game such as the homepage of Salla’s employer, at the moment. What you are now starting to morning in search of cryptic clues. But since
munity members. But since it’s often a collabora- Bangalore World university. Reading Salla’s bio experience is “year zero”. It’s not some kind of it was part of the fest, it was not open to the
tive effort, there is no need for all players to do all page, the player encountered a link to the personal gimmick to get you to buy a record — it is the art general public. n
tasks, which is good since some of the puzzles and page of Salla’s granddaughter, Laia Salla, as well form... and we’re just getting started. Hope you siddharth.parwatay@thinkdigit.com
clues are insanely difficult, making even seasoned as Jeanine’s phone number. Following these clues enjoy the ride.”
players pull out their hair. leads the player to the homepage of Evan and So are these ads and gimmicks intrusive? Where do I start?
Nancy Chan, family friends of the Sallas. Jeanine’s Not really. Most usually don’t even mention the
How did all of this begin? phone message revealed that Evan recently died in product that they’re promoting. It’s actually www.argn.com
Well, if you really want to trace it back it prob- an alleged boating accident on his a.I.-enhanced a brilliant form of viral marketing as it gets a You can find the currently running ARGs by visiting
boat, the Cloudmaker. But it is learned from sev- bunch of people to spend a lot of time exploring ARG Network, the best basic resource for ARG news
Jargon eral sources that Evan was a superb swimmer. a world related to the product. Take the case of and events. You’ll see a list of the most popular (and
at this point the player joins the investigation ‘I Love Bees’, a huge promotion for Halo 2. Those confirmed!) games at the top of the page with links
Puppet-master - A Puppet-master is an individual into Evan’s death. Over the course of the three that did play it knew that it was a promotion, to the forums where it’s being discussed as well as
involved in designing and/or running an ARG. Puppet- months that The Beast went on, it incorporated but not once did it scream, “Please buy Halo 2!”. any other important resources (such as the game
masters are simultaneously allies and adversaries to thirty diverse in-game web sites, from the anti- Instead of flooding the users with Halo 2 banner chat room).
the player base, creating obstacles and providing Robot Militia to the Coalition for Robot Freedom; ads, they were immersed in the back-story of the
resources for overcoming them in the course of tell- from an architectural magazine to a sleep clinic, Halo 2 universe. Players spent months before the www.unfiction.com
ing the game’s story. and from the coroner’s office to a hat store. as game was released interacting with some really The forums at unfiction (uf) will update you on the
The Curtain - The curtain is generally a metaphor the game progressed, the players came across cool fictional characters. For example, the game latest independent games.
for the separation between the Puppet-masters additional mysteries, such as who is killing aI- presented players with 210 pairs of global posi-
and the players. Puppet-masters generally remain enhanced houses, the location of the sexbot with tioning system coordinates and time codes, with www.cloudmakers.org
behind the curtain while a game is running. The real whom Evan had an affair, and malfunctions in the no indications to what the locations referred to. Cloudmakers now serves as a clearinghouse for
identity of Puppet-masters may or may not be known weather-control system. By the end of the twelve Players eventually figured out the coordinates online gaming. Members can find out about new
ahead of time. weeks, players had completely immersed them- referred to pay phones and the times to when games, find fellow players, and reminisce about and
Rabbithole - Also known as a Trailhead. A Rabbithole selves in the in-game action. the phones would ring; one player in Florida discuss The Beast.
marks the first web site, contact, or puzzle that stayed by a phone while Hurricane Frances was
starts off the ARG. Why should I care? minutes away in order to recite answers to prere- Besides, we suggest you keep your eyes open; you
Trailhead - A deliberate clue which enables a player unlike other games, this type of game reacts to the corded questions. Other phone calls were made might just chance upon something somewhere, you
to discover a way into the game. players moves. The Puppet-masters (creators) often by live persons known as “operators”; these calls never know
are forced to change the story line mid-game and allowed players to interact with the characters
92 DIGIT FEBRuaRy 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRuaRy 2009 93
Digital Leisure l Lead Feature Digital Leisure l Lead Feature
Street Fighter IV
MostAnticipated
out war against the Covenant. So all you RTS lovers
who really didn’t understand the hype behind (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
Halo, should now set yourselves up to get hooked. Street Fighter lovers rejoice! The game is back with
Halo Wars’ web site is www.halowars.com. added features, characters and game styles. Gear
up for new moves and combos including four new
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction
Games of 2009
characters — Abel , Crimson Viper, Rufus and El
(Xbox 360, PC) Fuerte. Of course there are boss and hidden char-
Conviction, is the fifth among the popular Splinter acters that these arcade
Cell series. This game is being developed by Ubisoft games always hold —
Montreal. The story takes place two years after the Gouken, Seth and Akuma.
events of Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Even though the characters
Kumar Jhuremalani paper, especially as it offers a choice of a side to Sam Fisher is forced out of hiding because of an are being rendered in 3D,
pick in the epic war for the Rings, so let’s wait and unspecified danger to his friend and co-worker, the gameplay is not going to
2
008 saw some great titles being released, but hope for the best. Go to www.pandemicstudios.com/ Anna Grímsdóttir. Upon his return to Third change. Street Fighter IV is
that’s old news now. It’s the New Year — let’s conquest/ to find out more about this game. Echelon, he discovers that the organisation has retaining the arcade style of
move on. Games give us something to look fallen into disarray due to overbearing bureau- six button combat. There are
forward to, when you get home from school, Halo Wars cracy and internal power struggles. Incensed by two more attacks that have been added to this
college, or even work. Enough talk. Let’s jump into (Xbox 360) the inability of Third Echelon to do what’s right, game — Focus Attack and Ultra Combo. The game
a list of the games that we are looking forward to Halo is an all time favourite FPS game that has you Sam strikes out on his own. In Conviction, Sam’s is already released on arcades, but will have more
this year. These games are in no particular order, playing as the spartan warrior Master Chief, of the involvement with the terrorists in Double Agent has to offer for the home version, which will be
because we definitely want to play them all! UNSC. You have to battle the Covenant forces and made him a wanted man, forcing him to go incog- releasing shortly. Street Fighter’s web site is
achieve victory. Halo Wars has not been created by nito. For those of you who haven’t played any of www.streetfighter.com
Lord of the Rings Conquest Bungie, but is instead more of an off-shoot of the the previous Splinter Cell games, Sam is a part of
(PC, PS3, Xbox 260, Nintendo DS) Halo franchise, and is created by Ensemble Studios. a special black ops team under the NSA, code BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams
The Lord of the Rings: Conquest is an upcoming video The game offers a different perspective to the named Third Echelon and Anna Grimsdóttir is the (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
game developed by Pandemic Studios and world and wars of Halo. As an RTS game, you get to technical operations manager in the same depart- What can we say about BioShock? Those of you who
published by Electronic Arts. It is based on The Lord control large armies and shrewdly direct them in ment. The game offers a good mix of stealth game- have played the
of the Rings trilogy, and borrows many gameplay realistic warfare. Halo Wars is set during the play (think Metal Gear Solid series, and action). This g a m e ,
mechanics from Pandemic’s Star Wars: Battlefront UNSC’s first deadly encounters with the Covenant, particular outing of Sam promises to be as excit- absolutely love
games. This game allows you to play both the allowing players to lead the crew of the UNSC’s ing as the previous it. If you
forces of good and evil, but unlike “Spirit of Fire” — from initial skirmishes to an all installments with haven’t played
The Lord of the Rings: its interesting infor- it, well, you are
The Battle for Middle- mation gathering missing out on
earth, the latter gameplay, stealth, an award-winning title. Now it’s time to play the
option is based and covert sequel of the game coming out in 2009 titled,
around Sauron missions. For more Bioshock 2: Sea of Dreams. Here’s the problem though
stopping the One information about — not much has been revealed about the sequel. So
Ring from being this game go to much so, that there is speculation that the game
destroyed and http://splitercell.us. may be a prequel instead of a sequel. A teaser for
fighting back. All ubi.com/conviction/. the Sea of Drems is available on popular video sites
sounds good on
Imaging: Sajeev.M.V
94 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 95
Digital Leisure l Lead Feature Digital Leisure l Lead Feature
such as YouTube and Gametrailers. Well, whatever headstrong nineteen-year-old youth, able to warp increased AI. And of course, this game introduces where you can choose to be either friendly by help-
the nature of the game, it is definitely another time itself to her will!” Yeah, haven’t heard that an element of co-operative multiplayer—you can ing out people in distrees, or just ignore them and
gem to look out for. one before... Jokes apart, this sequel will give you either play locally over a split-screen, or remotely do your own thing. Through its great graphic and
the chance to customize your character as per with your friends. Head to www.residentevil.com cool powers, we hope that this new-age super hero
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin gender, something thatwas previously not possi- where you can find out more about this game. game will be a win. Visit http://www.suckerpunch.
(Xbox 360, PS3, PC) ble. Looking at the game trailers, this game looks com/detail.php/games/infamous for more about
The nightmare has returned, Alma Wade is back. to be another great hit from the Blizzard stables, Prototype this game.
The sequel to F.E.A.R. continues the supernatural and we are eagerly awaiting its release. You can (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
suspense story of Alma, a powerful psychic who learn more about the game at www.diablo3.com. Here’s a rather challenging Halo 3: ODST
rages against those who wronged her. This triggers game for everybody. Prototype (Xbox 360)
an escalating paranormal crisis in her person, that God Of War 3 is a sandbox-style action game, Formerly known as Halo 3: Recon, ODST is an expan-
threatens to devour and replace the reality as we (PS3) which basically means you sion of Halo 3, created by Bungie. The gameplay is
know it, with her own. Her story is Not much is known don’t have to follow a single similar to the Halo trilogy but in this expansion
told in F.E.A.R. through various means about the third and patch to reach your objective. you do not play as Master Chief, but rather a lone
such as sequenced flashbacks, snip- the final part of the You have the freedom to choose the way you want UNSC soldier in the city of New Mombasa, Kenya.
pets of CCTV footage, and other God of War trilogy, to play the game. Of course this freedom isn’t You play a soldier of the Orbital Drop Shock
evidence found playing the game. In but it will defi- without limit; you will have to follow the basic Troopers (ODST) whose main objective is to find
Project Origin, you will encounter nitely be as excit- story outline which goes like this: You play Alex, a out what happened to his missing squad members.
Alma, we assume, in a similar way ing and as much mutant shape-shifted with superhuman abilities Since an ODST does not possess Master
they did in the first game — through fun as the previous of strength, speed, agility, durability and healing. Chief’s superhuman abilities and
exploration of a city that was annihi- two. The specula- You are also empowered with the abilities to armor, he is more vulnerable to
lated by the cataclysmic explosion of tions we have for consuming fallen enemies... a bit creepy, that. As weapons fire, making for a more
the previous game. This time you will this game include we mentioned earlier, Alex can shapesift and take cautious and tactful gameplay. But
not be playing as the Point Man, but new and more on the guise of those he has consumed... getting don’t get the wrong idea—ODST is not
will instead play a special forces oper- awesome weapons creepier... Alex, of course, has lost his memory and focused on stealth gameplay, however,
ator called Michael Becket, whose that kill and rend in even cooler ways. Can there is set out to regain it. He would also need to find some elements of stealth will be incor-
squad is sent in to arrest Genevieve ever be enough blood splatter? Surely not. The his sister to get the answers he is looking for. The porated. To learn more about Halo 3:
Aristide, based on the evidence gathered against previous titles did a great job as action games, but game throws two types of enemies at you: one is a ODST head over to this web site
her by the Point Man in F.E.A.R. All of this will be we want more. We would especially like to see set of humans that have been infected with a virus www.bungie.net.
occuring 30 minutes prior to the ending of F.E.A.R. more of the Kratos character buildup — here’s a causing them to mutate, and the other are the
The game’s teaser throws some great fight person who can stand up to the very Gods, some- special squad of soldiers sent out to kill the afore- StarCraft II
sequences and some chilling moments. We can’t one without fear... we love that aspect of his char- mentioned mutants. The most interesting aspect is (PC, Mac OS X)
wait. Visit http://projectorigin.warnerbros.com to acter and can’t wait to see how the developers the shape-shifting ability, a new concept as a mean StarCraft II continues its epic saga where StarCraft:
learn more about this game. This just in: at the time improve upon him. The story arc of the game so far of destruction. We do hope that the gameplay is Brood War left off. StarCraft II will present a cast of
of writing this, Project Origin’s demo has been released is brilliant and going strong, we would definitely not overly complicated due to this mechanic. new heroes and familiar faces
on the PC and console platforms. So what are you wait- want to know more. There has also been specula- Radical (the developers behind this titles) claim in an edgy sci-fi story filled
ing for, go grab it! tion that God of War III will offer online gameplay, that there are 750 different combinations that can with adventure and intrigue.
definitely something to look forward to... The God be used through this power, so we hope they don’t Protoss, Terran and Zerg, the
Diablo III of War III website is http://www.us.playstation.com/ disappoint us. Head to www.prototypegame.com to three races in the game will
(PC, Mac OS X) PS3/ Games/God_of_War_III/ learn more about the game. be battling it out once again,
Diablo III is another sequel to a very popular RPG only this time there will be
series from Blizzard. The game offers a new story- Resident Evil 5 inFAMOUS new units, new abilities and
line and of course, awesome graphics. Diablo III (PS3, Xbox 360) (PS3) new maps. StarCraft has
takes place in Sanctuary, the dark fantasy world of Another sequel to another great fran- You play a college dropout named Cole, who is a always been one of the fastest
the Diablo series. For those of you who played chise; but this game is also a movie bicycle messenger. One day Cole delivers a package RTS games around and be
Diablo II, the world was saved by a handful of series. Resident Evil 5 continues in the which for some strange reason, causes a massive assured that this sequel will continue that aspect.
unnamed heroes. The story goes like this: the same vein as its immediate successor. electromagnetic explosion that kills everybody in This game caters to the veterans who love StarCraft
warriors that survived the onslaught of the armies The game is similar to Resident Evil 4 a six-block radius, except Cole. Cole is not the same and also to those who are new to the RTS genre.
of the Burning Hells have gone mad from their with the same ‘over the shoulder’ after the explosion and now has super powers (he Blizzard will once again offer online play through
ordeals, and it is up to a new generation of heroes camera view. Instead of controlling the can control electricity) and is out for revenge, or Battle.net their online service, which is expected
to face the forces of evil threatening the world of character of Leon, as done in the fourth more likely, an answer. While the setup sounds a to offer new features to accomodate StarCraft II.
Sanctuary. Players will also have the opportunity game, you get to control Chris Redfield. bit overdone (remember the big green guy), the Learn more about Starcraft II by visiting this web
to explore familiar settings such While RE:5 adds new weapons, it still core gameplay seems interesting. Oh and did we site: www.starcraft2.com.
as Tristram. The three classes retains the classic handguns and shotguns. mention that prior to the life-changing explosion
which have been revealed so far Lighting plays an important part in this outing, Cole was athletic and knew parkour? Parkour, or Star Wars: The Old Repuplic
are the Barbarian, the Wizard with dark and bright environments offering dras- free-running is getting quite (PC)
and the Witch Doctor. The tically different styles of gameplay. For example: as common in the gaming world, This game is likely to attract a varied bunch of
Barbarian is the one class that Chris moves from a dark area to a brightly-lit area, with more and more games being people: from gamers, to geeks, to Star Wars freaks.
has been preserved from Diablo the dilation of his pupils will cause you to see created with parkour as the core Firstly, the MMORPG world will want to get their
II. A scary fact about the Wizard extended black instead of a direct readjustment of concept. Another thing to watch hands on this massively multiplayer title. Then
has been mentioned as on the the environment around you. More human like out for is the sandbox style of there will be those who have played and enjoyed
Diablo III website: “Imagine, a behaviour has also been given to the enemies with gameplay offered by inFAMOUS either of the two Knights of the Old Republic games,
96 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 97
Digital Leisure l Lead Feature Digital Leisure l Lead Feature
and finally anybody and every- and World of Warcraft. MMORPGs are a unique genre the boredom of micro-manag- to is how the gameplay will actually work in this
body who ever liked Star Wars of games and call for dedicated gamers (some ing resources. This game will game. Gameplay involves a third-person perspec-
would, and must, defeinitely might say obsessive to a fault) to play them. Hence, thus offer a new style of RTS tive on the HD consoles, similar to Gears of War.
try this game. Of course this the new games that are coming out need to avoid by moving away from the The Nintendo Wii version will offer a cell-shaded
game has also recieved a lot of the treaded path and break out with something traditional building aspect as graphical appeal and will be played in the third-
criticism—there are those who new. Well, we have found a really great game that it focuses more on the front- person with the Wii Remote acting as the
do not want their single-player- promises to offer just that. The game is called Fallen line combat. The campaign Ghostbusters’ gun.
only favourite to be converted Earth and the storyline actually seems half-plausi- can be accomplished in single
into an MMO, others say that ble: There is a virus that has spread and destroyed player as well as in co-op The Chronicles of
this game will not do well with most of the Earth’s population and has mutated mode. Head over to www.dawnofwar2.com for more Riddick: Assault
the prevailing market condi- through different stages. The virus was created details about the game. on Dark Athena
tion as the MMO market is currently dominated by somewhere in South Asia and when it came in (Xbox360, PS3, PC)
World of Warcraft. Warranted, or unwarranted criti- touch with Pakistan, they immediately thought the Tekken 6 This science fiction
cisms aside, this game will definitely be a delight virus had origins in India; Pakistan then attacks (Xbox360, PS3) FPS was originally
as it can be considered a step up from the tradi- and through the attack starts the virus to spread Tekken 6 will be the first anticipated to be a
tional setup of Mages, Wizards, Nights, Elves and further. The virus, called the Shiva virus, then game based on the remake of The
Orcs, which is so common that it has begun to get mutates to different stages. Players can choose one System 257 arcade board Chronicles of Riddick:
boring to some extent. www.swtor.com is where you of many professions offered in this game, with to be launched on the Escape from Butcher Bay,
need to head if you’re interested to learn more classes such as engineers, enforcers, travellers, and PlayStation 3. It is the but it has grown to such an extent that it now
about this game. so on, each of which with their respective factions. latest in the Tekken series being considered a sequel. There isn’t much infor-
This game offers a completely new story, a fresh and will retain all the mation on this game, but from what we have seen
BattleForge setting, new professions, and hopefully, new game elements from Tekken 5 and Tekken 5: The Dark it looks spectacular. Vin Diesel did an amazing job
(PC) play. It is definitely one the MMORPG enthusiasts Ressurection. This installment will also have an in the movie franchise and he has been portrayed
Okay, this game is just should wait for. Learn more about Fallen Earth on its online mode which will be great fun. You can now brilliantly in the game as well, even his voice has
amazing. It’s so good it official web site: www.fallenearth.com. challenge your arch-nemesis to a game without been used. This game is expected to have great
actually can’t be classi- him actually being in your house using your graphics and an advanced AI and also a multi-
fied, but let’s try to do it Killzone 2 console. New ‘item’ moves have also been imple- player mode. We hope that this sequel does deliver
anyway. This game can (PS3) mented where characters use special items to all that it has promised. More can be found out at
only be played online, so Killzone is a sci-fi FPS game which follows the story- attack the opponent. Also Namco has added a new www.riddickgame.com.
let’s start off by saying line of Killzone: Liberation (for the PlayStation ‘Rage’ system where on using Rage, your attack
that it’s an online game. Portable) and is the third game in this franchise increases by huge amounts to the cost of your Dragon Age: Origins
But since many people following the original’s release on the PlayStation health reducing. There are a total of 42 characters (PC, PS3, Xbox360)
can play it simultae- 2 console. The story of Killzone 2 is quite straight which essentially means all the characters from Dragon Age is an RPG being developed by
nously, it’s an MMO. It has PvP and PvE elements to forward: two years after the Vekta attack by the Tekken 5: The Dark Ressurection are present with an BioWare; forged using a new game engine called
it which would then make it somewhat of an Helghast, the addition of new characters. Out of the new char- Eclipse. The reason why
MMORPG. Here’s the catch though: you don’t sit Interplanetary acters, six have been confirmed: Zafina, Leo, this game is sub-titled
and control a single character, but an army—which Strategic Alliance Miguel Caballero Rojo, Bob, Azazel (the final Boss ‘Origins’ is because the
makes it an RTS, so it’s an online RTS, or an (ISA) is taking the of the game) and NANCY-MI847J. For more infor- game encorporates an
MMORTS, if you have been keeping tabs. You build fight back to the mation check out http://tekken.namco.com. origins story for each
and control your own army and complete missions enemy’s home world race and some classes. An
in co-op, or fight against one another to improve of Helhgan. You play Ghostbusters origin story will deter-
your own skills. Another innovation presented as Sev, a hardcore (PS3, PS2, Xbox360, Nintendo Wii & DS, PC) mine the background of
through the game is that the way you build your battle-monger who is When there’s something strange in the neigh- the main character prior
army is through a card-based system. You can sent to capture the bourhood, who ya gonna call....Ghostbusters! You to the main storyline.
choose to build your army based on multiple Helghast Leader, heard the call right, Ghostbusters the game is Which means, a Dwarf
elemental types. Building units and killing creeps Emperor Visari, and going to be released sometime in 2009, and will Noble will begin the game as part of the royal
and enemies will definitely need co-operation with bring their war be a continuation of the movie franchise. The family in one of the Dwarven cities, and a Dwarf
your fellow players and also macro-management of machine to a halt. Killzone 2 aims to provide play- game picks up two years after the events in Commoner will begin on the streets of the city.
your own army making this a very interesting ers with a realistic gameplay, dubbed “Hollywood Ghostbusters II. You play a new recruit who has This will give you many hours of gameplay and
game to play. Keep up with the news about this Realism” by the developers. There is also a new been hired to test some equipment created by these characters will reappear throughout the
game at www.battleforge.com. cover system called “lean and peek” which will be Egon Spengler and Ray Stantz because the para- game. The game is described as being a ‘dark
a great addition to this game. Visit www.kill- normal activity has increased in the city. This heroic fantasy’ story which will be portrayed on
Fallen Earth zone.com for more information about the game. activity is actually being an epic scale with mature themes. Players start
(PC) caused due to the release the game through one of the six Origin stories
The bar for MMORPGs have Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II of a Gozer exhibit. The and will be playing that character’s point of view.
been raised in 2008 with (PC) storyline doesn’t seem as On choosing the Origin, the game determines the
the release of games like The Dawn of War II sequel in the Warhammer 40,000 interesting as it is very appropritae behaviour of the NPCs and their
Age of Conan, which takes universe is also an RTS which differs from its prede- similar to that of the consequent reactions with the player. With
gameplay and graphics to a cessors. The campaign mode allows for a pick-up and actual movie, but the fun BioWare at helm, this game ought to have an
new level, and through the play experience by allowing you to select your army, part will definitely be in interesting story. More information can be found
release of expansions for the mission and diving straight into the action. It playing through the at http://dragonage.bioware.com.
games such as Eve Online does away with the ‘distraction’ of base-building and story. Also look forward kumar.j@thinkdigit.com
98 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 99
Digital Leisure l Feature Digital Leisure l Feature
know that Indian game companies have con- “We have adopted the latest DirectX tech-
Game developers tributed to games like Microsoft’s Forza motor-
sport, EA’s Battlefield Modern Combat, Atari’s
Asterix and Obelix XXL2, Project Gotham Racing 4,
Colin McRae Dirt, Guitar Hero and many more. So
where does India stand with all of this?
nologies for Graphics in our games. For
Ghajini we wrote a lot of good Shaders, but
we had to pull them out of the game to main-
tain compliance with lower configuration
graphics cards that are prevalent in India.
in India
Kumar Jhuremalani developer, you need to have the proper paper
Some companies prefer to stick to a more
traditional approach of gaming, where in peo-
ple play games for leisure. Such games are
called casual games and one such company
present in India is Zapak. If you visit their web-
site (www.zapak.com) you will find a huge list of
Our survey of Indian hardware market made
us aware that the masses don’t have advanced
3D graphics cards and if we were to reach the
mass audience we had to lower our specifica-
tion for Graphics card requirement to most
widely available Intel Integrated Graphics
work including a game design document games to choose from and these are mostly all Chipset(G965). We had to optimize our
G
aming is a great form of recreation and (GDD) which could be anywhere between 2 to browser-based games with a multiplayer Engine to run on low end graphics cards,
is now even becoming a profession for 200 pages a level. Just imagine the sizes of aspect to them. Zapak has also won awards for while not compromising on game play.
some. But has anybody wondered what GDDs for MMORPGs, the amount of work their games including the UN Award for DirectX 10 and advanced graphics is available
makes these games great and who is responsi- going into each dungeon and level. Excellence in Creativity for their game Laadli to the Indian audience today with the current
When it comes
ble for that? The credit goes to the game devel- The game development industry is estimat- and when asked about how long it took to cre- generation AAA games, but the masses who
opers. A game developer is basically a software to India, there is ed to reach $65 billion by 2011 in the US. In ate the game, they claim, “It took more than don’t have a 3D accelerated graphics card
developer who develops video games. There are definitely a India itself, NASSCOM says, it’s expected to 45 days to create Laadli and it cost us about Rs. would have to wait for about a year to be able
many platforms for games — these days, you shortage, as value at $212 million. But the question here is, 1.5 Lakhs.” Talking about creating their to play the current generation games.”
have PC games and console games. These are when will India reach that level and are the games, “We have in-house developers and we We also spoke with Mr. Anthony Whitaker,
most opt for an
further sub-categorised. PC games include sin- companies here moving at the same pace as also outsource our projects.” Zapak has games Upcoming titles the Technical Director of RZ2 Games, and asked
gle-player games and online games, while con- MBA or are not those in the US? Companies need to provide, which is meant for the Indian audience but him how long and also about the costs involved
from the Indian
sole games have a wider range from Sony’s even aware of not only to the Indian market, but possibly Mr Saagar says that they have recently even in creating a big budget game and he said, “It
Playstation series including the PSP, even a much wider user base, when it comes to started Zapak World which is meant for the Developers: takes anywhere between two to five years to
game develop-
Microsoft’s gaming console Xbox and Xbox 360 game development. There are several compa- world audience also. That’s a really good step Dhruva create a big budget title and can cost anything
ments as a
and even Nintedo’s Wii and DS. First thing a nies in India that have begun to tap this Gold in India to create such a base. The platforms Interactive: upto even $13 million.” When asked about
developer needs is to narrow down on what he career option Mine. Outsourcing or off shoring has become Zapak uses to create their games are Flash, what games have been created specifically for
/ she needs to specialise in. an integral aspect in the production of most Macromedia and Unity.
Conga Bugs, a the Indian audience, he said, “We have mobile
A game cannot be made over night — it international game titles. Game development Recently FX Labs released the game casual PC game. games like Jalsa and Ashta Chamma which are
needs great thought, planning and execution studios across the world are looking to out- Ghajini, which is based on the movie with FXLabs Studios: games based on the movies with the same
before it can be made available to others. With source visual art elements such as game char- the same title, with elements of the movie Inferno - A game name.” We also asked if RZ2 Games was doing
this comes the need for an efficient workforce acters, vehicles, racing tracks, sports arenas present in the game itself. We spoke with Mr. anything in relation to DX10 and Anthony
to back it all up. Typically, a game develop- and various game environments for games Sashi Reddi, Founder & CEO — FXLabs
based on replied, “We are not looking at DX10 games for
ment team consists of programmers, game that are being developed. Many Game compa- Studios, and asked him about the status of Dante’s Inferno. India as that requires Windows Vista and a
designers, artists and the management. India nies in India cater to this need and are con- Game Development in India and he said, RZ2 Games: A more powerful machine. Also, it does not have
has an abundance when it comes to program- tributing to some amazing upcoming games. “We, at FXLabs, believe that the gaming mar- secret MMOFPS a large enough spread or even market share.
mers in the IT sector. Designers, artists, sound All of this may sound great though it doesn’t ket in India while still in its infancy is ripe We use technologies upto DX 9 and also create
engineers, producers and testers are the ones come easy. Aspiring Game studios need to for growth. As a company, we are betting that is in develop- flash games. We create games for PC, PS2,
that are mostly outsourced by companies match high quality expectations to be able to the market for top notch games based on rec- ment. Nintendo DS and even the iPhone.” We also
when needed. But before you even think about deliver on such international projects. Did you ognizable Bollywood properties is the clear asked about other Indian companies approach-
getting into this field, you need to have the path to success. We are confident that con- ing them for projects to which he replied,
passion and creativity for games and what sumers will perceive a high level of value in “Other companies like Zapak and FX Labs has
really goes on behind the scene. When it the products that we make, and it should approached us. Most of our development is in-
comes to programming, you need to be profi- serve to cement FXLabs in their minds as the house only though.” He also spoke about RZ2
cient with C/C++, have knowledge in 2D vector premiere developer of games for the Indian Games creating an MMOFPS, but couldn’t
math, 3D math, knowledge of Direct X and market. FXLabs is making a significant reveal any information on that topic.
Open GL. And yes, before all this, you need to investment in this particular market oppor- Dhruva Interactive is one of India’s oldest
have a BE / BTech degree. You can’t expect to tunity.” Talking about Ghajini, we asked him Game Developers. When we Mr. K Rakesh Rao,
approach a game developer by saying you have how long it took them to make the game and CEO, about how long and how much the Game
an idea for a game. If you want to be a game also about the workforce that was used, he Development industry has improved, he
designer who works on levels and artwork, you replied, “We take about 9-12 months to pro- replied, “Yes 12 years is a long time indeed!
need to know Adobe Photoshop, CorelDraw, duce a game like Ghajini from Concept, While the it was really slow for the first 5 to 6
3ds Max, Maya and other such 3D animation Design to Implementation. The Ghajini game years, things started picking up around 2003,
software. Again remember, creativity must was completely built out of our own studios with the emerging mobile games market, and
come from within. If you do not want to join in Hyderabad. The main production team for the developer community has grown at a fast
the corporate world and want to stay inde- Ghajini game consisted of about 30 people clip in the last couple of years. The consumer
pendent, you really need to prove yourself and which included programmers, artists and market is finally growing, thanks to the high
must have extensive knowledge in the above testers.” On asking him about the game decibel marketing and promotion by portals,
mentioned. In fact, to even approach a game Ghajini and the technology involved he said, console owners such as Microsoft and Sony,
100 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 101
Digital Leisure l Feature Digital Leisure l Feature
and mobile companies for whom gaming is institute where they teach you games pro-
now an important revenue stream. The devel- Students who gramming. SAGE is run by Mr. Priyadarshi
oper community is evolving and gaining matu- are interested in Chowdhary, who is the Founder and CEO. We
rity, many companies are still young, they have designing a asked him about the courses offered at SAGE
much to learn and it will take time to hit inter- and he replied, “We teach only Games
national quality benchmarks. Dhruva was
game should Programming and we also have an advanced
lucky to have international exposure right play a lot of course where we teach students how to create
from the beginning. We are working with six of games, under- their own Game Engines. We normally teach
the top ten publishers and have contributed to stand the differ- students on the OGRE engine.” On their web
the development of over 30 AAA blockbuster site, www.sageinfolabs.com, it is mentioned
console & PC games.” About the technology
ent genres of that SAGE has also started a course that teach-
that Dhruva uses in games, he said, “We usual- games, posses es console game programming for the Xbox
ly use a DX version between DX7 and DX9 for good analytical 360. Mr. Priyadarshi says, “We have started
our target spec, because the mass market con- skills and be the course for console game programming,
sumer in India is primarily using fairly low-end but people prefer to enroll for PC game pro-
systems and a version of Windows between 98 very creative at gramming.” About getting a job in this line
and XP.” We also asked about the games they coming up with he said, “There is a lot of scope and we also
create, whether it is for the Indian audience or ideas for games have a placement program.” Mr. Anthony
the Global audience and he said, “We keep Withaker of RZ2 Games said, “We hold many
both markets in mind when developing games,
that would keep workshops, sponsorship programs and events
but our primary source of revenue has come people engaged. for colleges like IIT. We have an internship
from the international markets.” program going on where we currently have
When it comes to education, there is defi- three students with us also.” Mr. Sashi Reddi
nitely a limitation in India with most stu- of FXLabs Studios said, “ One of our main aim
dents looking for an MBA or not even know- is to nurture budding talent around this
ing that the option for Game Programming or industry. We have been running FX –
Game Designing exist after their degrees in Learning Academy, where in we get freshers
engineering. We got in touch with Divij on board and give them immense training
Durvey from Mumbai, who is now studying a around game programming and Art side
Game Programming and Designing related before starting their actual work with us.”
course at Pace University in New York and had Here is some advice Mr. Sashi Reddi has
this to say, “I have always been a gamer and given to young adults who wish to pursue a
since I was studying engineering I wanted to career in this field, “For students who want to
pursue it further. When I spoke about my get into gaming it is important to understand
plans to my professors at college, they really what is it that they aspire to do in this field. If
didn’t have any advice for me, which lead me they are interested in programming games,
to look for a course abroad.” SAGE, the School they should learn programming languages
of Advanced Graphics and Engineering, is an like C, C++ and be strong at Maths and Physics.
For people who would like to animate charac-
ters or make assets for games like vehicles,
buildings, etc they should learn 3D editing
software like 3Dmax and Maya. Students who
are interested in designing a game should play
a lot of games, understand the different gen-
res of games, posses good analytical skills and
be very creative at coming up with ideas for
games that would keep people engaged. Best
way to start a career in game design is to start
writing reviews and walkthroughs for the
games you are currently playing.”
We definitely know that this industry is
going to grow stronger but currently it is
moving at a slow pace as in comparison to
other countries and from the looks of it
India’s Game Developers are catering more
towards the casuals games meant for the
Indian audience. We still have hope that the
day will come when India will be the hub for
all Game Development with host to all types
of gamers.I
The SAGE studios, where young minds of the country learn Game Programming. kumar.j@thinkdigit.com
102 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009
Digital Leisure l Game On Digital Leisure l Game On
you see men with guns, you run. Some you can progress through a level. This complicated maneuvers, all of which
of them are marked in red, so you can aspect of the game reminds us of you don’t end up trying out because
knock them out and use their Portal. there is just not enough opportunity
weapons. More often than not, you will Successive levels of the game make for it — or so you think. During the
not carry the weapons as they slow you you move in increasingly complicated later levels, however, the game gets
down. When you slip, fall and die, the and innovative ways. The levels also boring. The focus shifts to neutralising
screen shakes, goes black and white for become tougher, with the jumps enemies, and an unrealistic number of
just a second, and then blanks out. getting wider, or higher. Timing, and them, at that. Repeated restarts to get
Some primal trigger in your brain precision are required here. You have the jump, roll and wall run right will
makes you anticipate your death, keep you focused, but repeated restarts
seconds before it happens, and we just to get away from a gunman you
wonder what kind of research the are not allowed to neutralise makes for
developers did to come up with this an irritating experience. At the rare
P arkour on a
stuff. When you have to roll after a instance that you need to use the gun,
long jump, you can see your body you have to be dead accurate because
rolling, and for a second you are actu- the guns usually have very little
ally disoriented and confused. When ammo. But since gun-combat is rare,
you fall and get hurt, you actually you find that you don’t have enough
Mission freeze for a second — just enough to
recover, and just enough to make you
You get to dangle from a helicopter... practice to get it right and you’ll often
need to repeat such sections. At this
and learn to take away weapons from ing take on the platforming genre.
Aditya Madanapalle enemies you might encounter. A Your path forward is made known
whole range of acrobatic actions can through what is called “runner
W
e have been tracking this be performed through minimal keys. vision”, which turns objects of inter-
game for a while now. From To even begin talking about the est in the environment red, indicat-
the trailers and game play very impressive gameplay, you have to ing that you need to make your way ...steal some guns... ...slide down ramps... ...fall and die sometimes...
videos we looked at before the game talk about the not-so-interesting story. towards them. At the end of the first
was released, it promised to be a You are what the game calls a level, you find yourself on a terrace. appreciate how real the game feels. point, the bugs also get to you — jump
different and innovative idea for a “runner”. A runner is a messenger Just as a helicopter comes into view, The story makes you follow a trail onto a ledge with your hands on either
first person adventure game. The that takes dangerous paths across the its landing skids blazing red with of contacts, betrayers, and bodies inch- side of piping, and you cannot move
game released on consoles before it city to deliver messages. This is runner vision. The police are firing at ing onwards to answer questions you left or right. You cannot even jump off,
did for Windows, and we could not because the world (or at least this city) you, and you hardly have time to didn’t know you had. So when some- or climb up. You get stuck for no fault
wait to get our hands on it. Those of us is under a totalitarian regime, where think. And like some cornered one on screen starts running away of your own. Sometimes, your feet get
who did try out the game on consoles the government has put all forms of animal, you instinctly jump to hold from you, using the same techniques stuck inside the floor, disabling any
were enthralled. communication under strict surveil- on to the skids of the helicopter. you do, follow them with all your kind of movement.
When you start the game, the first lance. This serves to neutralise crime Impressive stuff, this. heart. But when animated cut-scenes The graphics are great. The envi-
... and “neutralise” some enemies
level is a tutorial that outlines the and rebels. This is where the runners There are spectacular props in reveals scene-after-scene of needless ronment has a cyberpunk feel, with
gamut of moves that your player can come in, with their alternate medium almost every level of the game. Over complications and conditions, you to be very careful about when and how bright, vibrant and effervescent
perform. Look down, and you see the of communication. The second intro- the next few levels, you will dodge don’t have the heart to take it all in, you use your moves. Sometimes it is colours used. The entire city feels like
torso and limbs of your player, some- ductory level fleshes out the story for bullets in sewers, jump between pipes, and find it a serious distraction from preferable to fall and get hurt, because it’s bathed in light, even the sewers
thing unique for the first person the player and you see your charac- climb on crates and cranes, learn that the game itself. Despite the very pretty rolling might make you fall to death. It have a halo. This is a very good looking
point-of-view games, which usually ter’s (Faith) sister (some police officer) some fences are electrified, navigate vector animation, we could not resist makes you feel as if the skills of your game. The soundtrack is mostly ambi-
contain phantom bodies and legs. getting framed for murder. She barely through vents, spend some time in the urge to skip the cut-scenes and character are developing as you play ent loops, with the tone changing with
Unlike other games, the tutorial is a has time to talk to you, when the elevators, and even take on a few return to the meat of the game. the game. the mood and pace of a level. It lends a
very necessary step in playing the police burst in with guns a-blazing. enemies by neutralising them with There are moments of very intense However, one disappointing aspect sense of urgency when you have to
game. The first level takes your breath Fight is not a choice here, you are a your movements. The gamers have action in the game. Snipers, for exam- is that you never really find out all the move fast, and encourages logic when
away. You are made to jump over runner, and you can only run. So run taken the pains to make the experi- ple, have these shafts of red light ways to neutralise the enemy. The you need to solve a spatial puzzle.
fences, slide beneath pipes, jump you do, through a complicated office ence very immersive. Not only is your directed towards you, and you have to demos shown during game load depict This is a great game, and some-
across large gaps, roll when you fall floor, into the vents, onto a terrace, entire body visible, there are a lot of neutralise them before they find you. thing that will go down in gaming
sliding down a ramp, and so on — small touches. Your heartbeat You are looking through the scope at Score : 6.5/10 history as something truly special — as
escaping bullets, instead of killing the increases when the game picks up two snipers, who in turn are looking Developer: DICE Portal did before. However, the game
attackers with your own. It’s a refresh- speed. The movement of the camera is through their scope, at you. You have Publisher: EA play is far from mature, and we just
tracked to the movement of your head. to take them out before their laser Platforms supported: X-box 360, hope to see more such titles around. At
You can fail spectacularly, or slip and sights seek you out. Another aspect are Microsoft Windows, Sony Play Station 3 least, a lot of first person games can
fall. You can feel your weight, and the the spatial puzzles in the game. You Web site: www.mirrorsedge.com take cues from the creativity that flows
momentum, just by looking at the way will be forced to think out of the box, Price : Rs. 2,750 through this game. I
the camera moves on screen. When look around and really think before aditya.madanapalle@thinkdigit.com
104 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 105
Digital Leisure l Game On Digital Leisure l Game On
Is that the Incredible Hulk? No.
Is Vega throwing fire at Gouki Pyro style? Yes.
tionary here, Street Fighter IV is a fitting debut for
this much loved franchise on the PS3 and Xbox
360, and is sure to give the competition a run for
their money. I
Score : 4/5
Developer: Dimps/Capcom
Is that an oriental fellow having a cup of tea? Maybe. Publisher: Capcom
Platforms supported: Arcade, Playstation 3, X-Box 360
In terms of game modes, you have an Arcade Web site: www.streetfighter.com
Mode, a flimsy story mode that essentially entails
you running through the entire roster one after
another. This mode can be played against the CPU
and a second human player can jump in at any
time. You can also invite friends over Xbox LIVE
and PSN and compete with them. You also have
two one-on-one modes; one for offline, and one for
Sameer Desai The classic characters bring with them their old online. Unfortunately, we were unable to test out
arsenal of moves and combos and all the characters the game’s online capabilities so early before the
M
any of the classic video game franchises possess their individual strengths and weakness. game’s release. If you’re new to the series or feel-
that have kept gamers entertained over Learning them, mastering them and overcoming ing a little rusty, the Training Mode will let you
the years make their next-generation them in your opponents is indeed a thrill and this hone your skills and practice your combos against
console debuts in 2009, and the first of these is is the high point of the game. There are no two either a dummy or a skilled AI opponent.
Capcom’s stylish reincarnation of beat ‘em up characters in Street Fighter IV that can be considered There’s not that much to be done in Street
favourite Street Fighter. Street Fighter IV features a a mismatch; every fighter has within his/her arse- Fighter IV, but then again, beat ‘em ups are all
refreshing art style, a few new characters, and nal the moves and combos required to beat every about one-on-one battles with your friends and
brings back the gameplay mechanics that made other fighter and the key again lies in learning the button mashing duels till your fingers bleed, and
Street Fighter II the pinnacle of this genre. strengths and weakness, and of course, in memo- there is plenty of potential for all of that here. As
The most striking feature of Street Fighter IV rising the various combos. Unfortunately, blind you play along, you will also unlock artwork and
is its stylised 3D art direction. Environments button mashing is also quite effective in this game, videos which can be viewed via the Gallery in the
and characters are created in a uniquely arty, but like every other fighting game, will only work main menu. Then of course, you have the cheesy
comic book style, which somehow comes across against an AI opponents, while a skilled human one-liners, over-the-top voice acting, and music
as both simplistic and intricately detailed. opponent will break you down effortlessly. that will make you look forward to an NSync
Coupled with a resplendent colour palate and One interesting aspect of Street Fighter IV is reunion; but that’s the fun of it.
presented in high definition, Street Fighter IV is a that it still employs the traditional 2D camera, Bringing an old classic to a next-generation
visual treat that almost justifies the price of while other recent beat ‘em ups such as Soulcalibur format is a tricky situation for developers. They’re
admission all by itself. IV and Virtua Fighter 5 allow side-stepping whereby expected to stay true to the series’ roots, and yet
But the game has a lot more going for it than the player can switch the camera to a different push the boundaries and make use of the powerful
simply its eye-candy graphics. Most importantly, angle. This is absent in Street Fighter IV. Whether hardware at their disposal. Capcom have managed
Street Fighter IV is a thoroughly absorbing fighting that’s a good or bad thing is subjective, but you to tread this fine line tremendously well. The new
game, particularly when played against a human will never miss being able to side-step in this game, arty visual style is breathtakingly realised in vivid
offline opponent. The classic characters — Ryu, and that is a testament to Capcom’s ability to high definition, while the tight gameplay mechan-
Ken and co — return and the game also adds four deliver an immersive fighting experience even in a ics, the classic characters, and traditional 2D
new fighters to the roster — Crimson Viper, Abel, 2D arena. If nothing else, it will certainly please camera perspective will surely satisfy fans of the
El Fuerte, and Rufus. the old school purists. older games. While there’s nothing truly revolu-
106 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 107
Digital Leisure l Game On Digital Leisure l Game On
(or stances) from the last couple of releases has together to main a ‘Teen’ age rating for the game.
been completely eliminated from the game as the The guys at Midway have always maintained
game seems to be moving closer to the original that this release is not truly a MK release and this
system of kick and punches (high and low) fact becomes quite evident as you play the game.
combined with special powers. The players in the The absence of other finishing moves (apart from
game are controlled using a combination of the fatalities) and holding back on the blood and gore,
digital pad and the analog stick- for 2D and 3D does make this game feel detached. Having said
movement respectively. Overall, the game plays a that, the studio has done a reasonably good job of
lot faster and the controls are well optimized to blending the DC world into the MK universe— as
work with game pads on both platforms. The most you can imagine it could have been a lot worse.
significant additions to the combat system The new fighting engine is not perfect, but seems
Sameer Desai however, are two new combat modes—namely, to be heading in the right direction. One can hope
through the story mode, the game will pit you ‘Klose Kombat’ and ‘Aerial Kombat’. Grabbing the that they take the learning from this title and use
U
nlike most other fighting games, Mortal against characters from both worlds and your play- opponent will zoom the camera close into the it effectively in the next true MK release.
Kombat (MK) has not shied away from re- ing characters changes as the story progresses action and triggers a mini-game where one player
inventing itself significantly, every few through various levels (fighting arenas) set in both has to anticipate the other player’s next move.
years or so. They did this with Mortal Kombat 3 and worlds. This predictably continues till your battle Similarly, certain attacks on your opponent will Pros:
the introduction of combo system and later moved against the final boss of the game and true to MK cause him to free fall to the lower level of the Improved and promising fighting system
the game to a 3-D arena with Mortal Kombat 4. They style, he deals out more damage and takes less of arena and you jump along to dish it out in mid-air. Good blend of two worlds
introduced fighting styles with Mortal Kombat: it, compared to other characters in the game Additionally, pushing the characters to the edge of Decent collection of characters in the fighter roster
Deadly Alliance and also released a couple of adven- roster. For beating the game, player is rewarded certain arenas will trigger the classic ‘test your
ture titles based on the MK characters and with two unlocked character—one each for beating might’ mini-game, as you push your opponent Cons:
universe. Now, although the latest iteration in the the game on the MK and DC side. (breaking through walls) from one end of the Lack of extra content and limited single player
series is technically not a pure Mortal Kombat title, In all, the game features a roster of 20 fighters combat area to the other side. replay value
Ed Boon and company have once again changed (ten on each side) and the two un-lockable char- One of the most enduring and iconic feature of Watered down finishing moves
the fighting system of the franchise and acters. Apart from the story mode, the game has the Mortal Kombat games are the finishing moves.
this time they seem to have nailed it the customary single player arcade mode where These are however watered down mainly due to
better than their last few attempts. you fight your way up the ladder to encounter the the involvement of the DC characters (read Warner Score : 6.5/10
The single-player ‘Story Mode’ final boss. The game also supports head-to-head Bros.) and their technique of bloodless fighting. Developer: Midway
mode kicks off with a somewhat two player fights, both online and offline. If you Each MK character (and the ‘bad guys’ of DC Publisher: Midway
plausible explanation of the have played MK games before, you’d expect plenty universe) has two fatalities each, while the ‘good Distributor: Milestone Interactive
merger of the two universes. of extra, un-lockable ‘kontent’; however, this title guys’ of the DC world have something similar Platforms supported: PS3, Xbox 360
Here the player has a choice has very little of that. called ‘Heroic Brutalities’. This is where the game Price : INR 2499/- (X360), INR 2799/- (PS3)
to fight on the side of either Coming back to the changes to the fighting will make most MK fans feel wanting, considering
the Mortal Kombat or the DC style, the developers claim to have completely the fact that at one point, the developers were
universe. As you play reworked the fighting engine. The fighting styles thinking of eliminating finishing moves all
NINJAS.... MMMUSST.... DIE I’d hit it... wait, I just did... pity its not a Ninja
MV Sajeev
Ninjas make me really angry
108 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 109
Thieves in Japan, beware of the T-34 Clean your teeth with photons
If the world is ever taken over by machines, Throw out those tubes of toothpaste. That is what People Who
it is sure to start in Japan. Behold the latest
little toy that has rolled out from Japanese
Smart Miracle’s laser toothbrush suggests
anyway. Fry the germs and clean your teeth with
Changed
factories - a robot patroller that throws a a laser beam - its just what all the cool people are Computing
net on any burgler that comes in its path. doing these days. And no, it won’t burn out your
The bot is controlled by a phone. eyes in case you cannot aim the beam properly.
First
T
he ubiquitous touch
Escape screen is seen in
almost everything
from ATM machines, PCs
to mobile devices to
WHAT’S THAT SMELL? These protesters are no, the aliens were not able two hundred thousand hits perhaps even vacuum
ANONYMOUS COLLECTIVE Whatever people who picket outside to cure Happy Smurf of his within a day of going up. cleaners! Well
Smellists rejoice GETS REASON TO FLAME Happened To… the premises of any
building owned by the
“disease”. The job itself has generated
a lot of publicity for the
refrigerators at least. Not
only did it make life easy,
Scientologists Google Lively Church of Scientology, over GET PAID TO VACATION employers. Your official it made everything fun.
against HIV+
T
hose innovative guys chai. For some reason, the issues like their post will read out as “The Think of the i-phone.
ost of us have now come
Remember to
at Japan got together
and decided that the
internet did not give
site assumes that all
grandmother’s houses
smell the same, but no one
protesters M to accept that not
everything Google
touches turns to gold. Yes, there
underhanded techniques
for curtailing protesters,
their belief of feed the fish
Caretaker of the Islands of
the Great Barrier Reef”, if
you get selected. Not only
enough of an olfactory has really taken the are definitely some things Google homosexuality as a disease, will you be accommodated
sensation to surfers. They trouble to refute their tried doing and well, didn’t quite
S
cientology has become and providing financial
I
n what is dubbed the on one of the important
decided to take Google claims. Not all the smells something of an in- work out. One such ambitious aids to anti-gay legislations. best job in the world, islands, you will be given
project was Lively a web-based
maps, and add places to it are bad though, you can joke in the global The Church of Australian Tourism permission to include
virtual environment launched by
tagged with unique smells. check out a freshly Internet community. Open Google sometime in July last
Scientology is by no means authorities will pay one family or a friend. You can
They are the Nio-Bu, the unboxed Mac, and discussion across image year. The idea was to create a harmless, and they have lucky person US $100,000 apply for the job by sending
connoisseurs of smell, and strangely enough, even boards, forums and blogs “chat experience” using avatars powerful ways of stopping (Rs. 6,354,954) for blogging in a video presentation of
they hang out at what our sun smells like, about the dubious in which one can communicate, protesters, both legal and about a fully paid six yourself. They have received
www.nioibu.com. right here on Earth. activities of the move around and interact in a illegal. The Church of month hiatus in Australia. a bunch of submissions. The Would it be the same
The entire web site is in You can add your own scientologists, saw the virtual world. Its almost as if Scientology has gone ahead You can look up the details deadline for entires is the without its touchscreen?
Japanese, so you will have odours to the list, and if Church of Scientology Google said “hey if Second Life is and enforce legal and apply through twenty second of February. Who doesn’t like a bit of
to use Google’s translation that does not occupy your targetting individuals in a doing it why cant we? Of course restrictions on two www.islandreefjob.com. What are you waiting for? touchy-feely action right?
tool to make any sense of time, you can look at a list number of cases. The there were differences — unlike homosexual HIV+ What are you expected to We gave out the URL two And we owe it all to Dr
Second Life, the Lively users
it. Even in English though, of photos of people internet community protesters, one of whom is do? Hang out at the beach, paragraphs ago. There is Sam Hurst. He developed
could not buy and sell products.
sense will be a difficult “smelling the smell”. As of organised themselves into Since there was no user-
himself an ex-Scientologist. get a massage or go one small catch though, the first “touch sensor” in
thing to find. What you now, there is no the Anonymous Collective generated content on Lively, These protesters are not snorkeling in the great you have to have at least 1971 while he was an
will find though, is where mechanism by which the (so that the Church of items such as hairstyles, clothing anonymous and barrier reef. one year prior experience, instructor at University of
in the world you can smell website can actually let Scientology could not play and furniture were limited to a anonymous, but Angry Gay Understandably, the web but we are unsure how they Kentucky. This was not the
filthy roadside garbage, surfers get a whiff of their hardball) and continued catalog of pre-designed Pope and Happy Smurf. And site received something like can expect that for a job transparent touch screen
cats with bad breath, spilt long list of strange odours, circulating jokes online. selections. In Google Lively up to like this. that we know of today.
wine on carpet, roasted but the Japanese act fast Also, real world protestors 20 people could occupy a room This sensor called the
cow-dung or dry spit and when an idea strikes them. (with hidden identities) and chat with one another. Text CENSORSHIP SO BIG, IT CAN “Elograph” was patented
started displaying their appeared as cartoon-style BE SEEN FROM SPACE by The University of
bubbles atop the avatars. Users
complete lack of sympathy Kentucky Research
for the Scientologists.
could design their own virtual
environments by hanging
China almost Foundation. Dr. Sam Hurst
The Church of
Scientology is notorious for
YouTube videos and pics from
Picasa on the walls like pieces of
bans the web founded his company
‘Elographics’ (now Elo
having a many-tiered art. The rooms could be embeded TouchSystems) and
hierarchy, where you learn
C
into blogs and Facebook pages. hina has a history of developed a transparent
and evolve towards your But in November Google a love-hate touch screen in 1974 and
inner immortal soul. The announced on its blog that it relationship with five wire resistive
Aliens have something to plans to shut down Lively by the technology. What is normal technology in 1977, which
do with it too, but no one end of December. Calling it an computer usage around the is the most popular touch
“experiment”, the blog goes on
really knows exactly what. world is invariably some screen technology. In 1977
to say “It has been a tough
By the end of it, you get to decision, but we want to ensure
kind of a crime in China, Elographics paired with
be Superman, or Tom that we prioritise our resources so every month has its Siemens Corporation to
Cruise, or something like and focus more on our core share of odd and develop a transparent
that. On the way there search, ads and apps business. outrageous happenings. version of the tablet on
though, you get a few We’d encourage all Lively users This month’s China related curved glass so that it
evolution points for to capture your hard work by roundup includes a could fit over a CRT
banning protesters against taking videos and screenshots of massive crackdown on (cathode ray tube) screen.
their activities and beliefs. your rooms.” porn, a crackdown on
I HotOrNot.com becomes an iPhone app I Steve Jobs is hale and hearty, despite everything you have heard I Obama government relaxes privacy rules just for YouTube I Don’t know what to blog about? Go to www.plinky.com I Encyclopedia Britannica gets partially wiki-ised,
110 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 111
Escape
Wild Wild Web
Dirty Sounding that most of them are just all of the planets are
Relax its only dirty sounding. made up. But just imagine the spherical?” Sometime’s
Overclocking Dirty sounding names that is; possibilities - prank phone they’re downright twisted.
Overclocking is the process of and a whole bunch load of calls, radio phone ins, and Take for instance – Do you
running a computer component them! Visit loads of other stuff, full Bart loose all of your hair in
at a higher clock rate than it was www.dirtysounding.com to Simpson ishtyle. Plus it can chemotherapy? There are of
designed for or was specified by find a list of hilarious and keep you entertained for course no answers but head
the manufacturer. ahem dirty sounding names hours. Well maybe not hours, over to
Clock Rate - Is the fundamental arranged alphabetically; plus still an important resource to www.crazythoughts.com for
rate in cycles per second - militarily and foreign names bookmark. these and many more.
measured in hertz - at which a categories thrown in for added
computer performs its most enjoyment. Now the website Potty thoughts
basic operations. isn’t flashy at all, in fact its Yeah we’ve all had them.
FSB/HTT- FSB stands for Front nothing more than a gigantic They’re ridiculous, of no real
Side Bus, and refers to the speed list. There’s “Dougie Style”, use but yet surprisingly worth
at which your processor can talk “Harry S. Houle” “Harry thinking about. “Why do they
to your memory. Ballsack” just to name a few. call him Donkey Kong if he is
In the AMD world, this is also We have a sneaking suspicion not a donkey?” or “How come
referred to as HTT, which stands
for Hyper-Transport Technology. cybersex, and the Chinese shut down these web sites. INSECURE MEN REJOICE
Multiplier - It denotes the speed government recognising What followed was a string
with which the processor does web surfing as a “clinical of public apologies. The 21 Century
its internal calculations. The
multiplier is a way of describing
illness”. Read on.
China has some of the
Chinese government is
going right ahead with Chastity
the internal speed in relation to
the FSB. So if the FSB is 200 and
toughest internet laws in
the world. However, despite
plans to purify not just the
internet, but the mobile
Belts
the multiplier is 10x, then the all the fine print, they networks as well.
manage to leave out one While sending explicit
G
processor runs at 200 x 10 = one are the days
2000mhz or 2ghz. activity from the rulebooks. images and text over when women’s
vCore - Is the voltage of the A housewife by the name of mobile networks is already underwear had to
processor itself. As overclocks Li, decided to have a little an offence, what the be secured with lock and
become unstable, you can use fun and teased people Chinese government is key to ensure their
this setting to increase the online by showing them looking to do now is to chastity. Lucia Lorio, a
processor voltage and make the video streams of herself in implement a mechanism by Brazillian lingerie maker
chip more stable. the nude. She was dragged which they can actually has rolled out a line of
vDimm - Is the voltage of the into court because of her catch the offenders. How lingerie with inbuilt
memory. The memory can and activities, but was let free exactly they will achieve devices so that insecure
often will be overclocked as well, when the judge discovered this is not clear. men can have their peace
and vDimm can be used to that there was nothing in A hospital in Beijing of mind.
increase stability in ram. the law they could actually probed 1,300 cases of It looks as ugly as you
Monitoring / Stability Testing – prosecute her with. Baidu people too addicted to the think it does (no, we are
Tools such as RivaTuner, CPU-Z, and Google, the two biggest Internet (those who need not showing you pictures),
SpeedFan etc. allow you to search engines in China medication if they do not but is very functional on
monitor things like (surprisingly, in that order) go online), and decided to multiple levels. First of all,
temperatures, voltages, fan had to apologise to the define too much web a man can program it and
speeds, clock speeds, memory government for showing surfing as a clinical keep track of the
settings, etc. Other software like too many links to porn sites psychological disease. movements of anyone who
Prime95 and SuperPi, stress-test on their online portals. The What is really scary wears the chastity belt.
the processor. These software government had however, are the kind of Secondly (angry
give you the necessary feedback. specifically asked them to treatments those with this feminists listen in), the
Cooling - Overclocking leads to remove all porn related disease can expect to woman can turn the GPS
high temperatures which must content from their web undergo. The Internet device off whenever she
be managed. Extreme sites, but the search addicted can expect wants. Thirdly, there is a
Overclockers rely on cooling engines failed to remove treatments like military lot of demand for the
systems to bring down the core them. The government style discipline, device... by women...
temps. These systems include retaliated aggressively, counseling, hypnosis and because they feel more
include Liquid Nitrogen(LN2) and threatening to punish and electric shocks. secure with it.
Water Cooling etc..
allows user edits I It’s official — Vista’s biggest competition...is XP I Studies show that multiple cores slow down computing
112 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Escape Escape
KILLER I-PHONE APP
He-waste?
Runaway It was a pretty usual work day. Michael chance to shoot a picture of the whole
snipers and Siddharth(the new recruit) were on
one of their usual coffee breaks, when
thing. We’re not showing you the picture
here, but you can probably imagine it.
Aditya walked very purposefully to a large Issue closing was definitely not the
H
ere is a little puzzle. trash can. To the utter amusement of the same this time, owning to the absence of
You get your hands spectators, he started rummaging through Vijay Padaya. He has emmigrated to USA
on a sniper rifle, it furiously! It seems he was looking for a after eight long years with Digit. Vijay is
with the required DVD! Michael, never one to pass up such best remembered for keeping things on
ammunition. You are also an opportunity, told Aditya that there track — usually by not letting us play Quake
were certainly a few DVDs in the trash 3 when there was work to be done. He will
given an iPhone, and a
can, causing Aditya to dig even be sorely missed when we work,
target to eradicate. deeper, and giving Michael a and more so when we play.
Unfortunately, you have no
training in ballistics, and
you don’t know how the feed in the distance to your weapon of choice is a
ammo will behave over a target, atmospheric factors different rifle, you can
long range. How will you like wind speed, air manually configure the
eradicate the target? pressure and altitude. The application.
You are right, it has application calculates the Increase the cool factor
something to do with the trajectory of the bullet and of your iPhone by
iPhone. gives you the results. The purchasing the app from
Runaway technologies, app comes with three the Apple iTunes app store –
has released an iPhone app common presets for Sniper for $11 (Rs. 540). The app
that gives you all the rifles, which are just letters store is notorious for
experience you missed out and numbers you have to be removing and re-allowing
in sniper training camps crazy to recognise. OK, we applications at random, so
you never went to. The app will throw them out here, if you want this one, get
is called BulletFlight, and the M110, the SR16 and the your hands on it before
this is how it works. You KAC PDW. If, however your something develops.
AMD Phenom II X4 Feature: 5 reasons to play the same in Zero Gravity! So
After being thrashed by Intel Dead Space what’s the arm count?
ever since the introduction of 1. The Plot 4. Chill through your spine
their Core 2 Duo lineup in 2006, The very story of Dead space is This one of the games that
AMD was never able to get back wonderful. It is set in the future actually scared me.
on its feet. The infamous TLB where you battle re-animated Necromorphs are really
bug gave the Phenom corpses while trying to repair a terrifying in the starting levels
nightmares. Things started to space mining ship! but it goes to a whole new level
improve with the B3 revision of 2. Graphics near the end. The sound effects
Phenom. But the top end AMD The graphics of Dead Space of the game are top notch and
processors still competed with make use of the next generation play an integral role in
Intel’s mid range processors. consoles and costly graphic frightening you.
Now, finally, AMD has released cards. 5. A true to life experience
the Phenom II 45nm based Each and every detail looks There is no HUD in the game at
processors. Along with Phenom good. The monsters look all which gives it a more
II, AMD has launched its awesome (in a gory and scary authentic feel. The health,
codename “Dragon” platforn, the sense) but it's the shadows ammo, objective indicators are
successor to the Spider platform, which make them really scary. integrated well into the game.
which basically is a combination 3. Limb Dismembering Action! The camera is also very good
Featured here are
snippets from some of of an AMD chipset and processor The gameplay involves lot of and you will hardly come across
the best bloggers who and a ATi graphics card. cutting which really is fun once problems with it. The physics of
have registered at the Compatibility. you start getting used to the game also adds to the
Blog Watch section on Phenom II takes on Core i7 pouncing necromorphs. You get experience.
thinkdigit.com.
If you wish to be
valiantly and does well too. It is to use your mining tools against So you're still reading this? Go
featured too, head to a great product and has plenty of these monsters. Cutting limbs is get your copy of Dead Space.
www.thinkdigit.com/ headroom for overclocking. the fastest way to immobilize
blogger.php and Dhruv Rajvanshi them. There are also some Vaishak V.K.
sign-up. http://think-tech.blogspot.com sequences when you get to do http://www.theregalgamer.com
I The Pope gives YouTube the thumbs up I Obama’s inaugration uploaded on Photosynth I Trolls crash into virtual wedding in AdventureQuest
114 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
When in doubt, go with option c.
What is the name of the Wonderland pirated movie?
1 c) Jean Cocteau’s The White Paper a) TELESYNC
Penguin mascot for Linux?
d) Dr. Seuss’s If I ran the Zoo b) R5
a) Chuck c) CAM
b) Tux 5 What is the idea behind d) TVRip
c) Pingu pancomputationalism?
d) Linus a) The universe is a computer 9 Students and artists in
b) Open source, open standards, Denmark offer Vores Øl to
and freedom based computing the internet community, what is
c) All applications, games and user it?
data will one day be hosted a) Free Hardware
2 Which of these early remotely b) An open source car
machines were d) The eco-system on the earth is a c) Free Beer
programmable? supercomputer d) Open source space satellites
a) A printing press
b) A Chinese incense clock 6 What are privacy-minded 10 What is the sci-fi title Anima,
c) A textile loom individuals use cryptography released in 2007 based on?
d) A mill on a day to day basis for their on- a) World of Warcraft
line activities known as? b) Second Life
3 Software crackers packaging a) Cyberpunks c) SIMS online
audio-visual intros along b) Cypherpunks d) Naruto
with cracked software gave rise to c) Cyberphunks Did You
which tech sub-culture? d) Cypherphunks
hat Intel was Know?
Got an
a) Modscene
b) Artscene
c) Demoscene
7 Which of these operating systems
is based on Unix code?
T short for Intelligent
Electronics?
interesting d) Cargo Cult programming a) Minix
question? b) Linux Answers
Send it in with 4 In which work of fiction does c) FreeBSD 10. b 5. a
the answer to the word “nerd” originate d) Mac OS 9. c 4. d
TQ@thinkdigit.com from? 8. d 3. c
Mark “TQ” in the a) Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors 8 Which of these represents
7. d 2. c
6. b 1. a
subject area b) Lewis Carroll’s Alice in the highest quality tag in a
Crossword Last month’s Winner
Kayomars Batliwalla
DOWN
1. Killing a player or a bot with a gun in a
Win!
combat FPS(4) Send in your entries to
2. A beam of light that kills instantly (4) TQ@thinkdigit.com on or
4. A line of text in chat to indicate the by the 20th of this month.
game is imbalanced(4) One lucky participant
will win
5. Killing people with a single bullet in the Hacking for Dummies
head in an FPS(8) By Kevin Beaver
6. Very skilled player in a multiplayer Published by
simulation game(4)
7. A sudden drop in gaming
performance(5)
9. Delay between a client computer and a
server (4) January’s Solution
11. A bunch of preset commands that
perform a particular or set of actions(5)
12. Strategy of staying in one place/hiding
and shooting(7)
14. An artificial opponant in a first person
combat shooter (3) version of a game(4)
16. Ninjas in Pyjamas(3) 13. A set of scenarios in a simulation or strategy
game(8)
ACROSS 15. The point on a map where a bot or player
3. An bug or undesirable graphic error in a appears when the game starts or during
game(8) gameplay(10)
8. A contiguous environment for gameplay (3) 17. A software that allows you to run a gaming
10. Intros put in by crackers before a cracked environment(6)
Crossword by Nitaa Jaggi
116 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com
Write to the Editor Digit will publish the best letters on these pages. Letters may be edited for clarity.
Please include your complete address in all communication.
E-mail: editor@thinkdigit.com
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Snail Mail: The Editor, Digit, KPT House, Plot 41/13, Sector 30,
send an e-mail to help@thinkdigit.com
Vashi, Navi Mumbai 400 703
Inbox
Please try to understand that your downloaded from a member’s area as Letter
You started the year on an excellent note. well. Although some hardware
T —
Digit h A Vector Quantity!
mag is already expensive, and you
people are increasing the price even It was one of the best issues of Digit. reviews might not be relevant for of the
The main story covering the evil face My first encounter with Digit Month
more! But what to do? I’ll have to buy overseas readers, all the rest of the
of techonology was good. ‘Bomb alert’ takes me three years back.
it, even if you increase it to Rs 200, as I articles and information in the
included in Digital Business was mind Then I was only interested in
love it so much! magazine are absolutely priceless for
blowing. I really liked this issue and will the games hidden inside the CD.
Kshitij Rawat me as I am always short on time due
preserve it for a long time. As I grew, it was the freeware that
to my busy work schedule.
GPS devices tested are really amused me. But now I have
Thanks for the vote of confidence, and Do you have any such plans in
awesome. The ‘Agent 001’ is my special realised that the greatest
believe us, we really do not want to increase pipeline? Please let me know.
favorite. knowledge lies in the precious
prices unless absolutely necessary. We did Anyway, I must congratulate you
I am a regular surfer, so I have used articles of the magazine. What
make sure to increase the number of content for your good work. Hope you manage
all the browsers, and I think it’s about marvellous stuff you people
pages, and also the extra DVD to ensure that to keep it as good as ever.
time you did a Fast Track to browsers. provide us with! The contents have
you still get complete value for money. Anurag Vats always been improving, and to a
Also, in the DVD, please try to
Team Digit provide videos of the latest gadgets you large extent, after Mr. Henning
January 2009 Issue We’re glad to hear from old readers, and joined as the Editor-in-Chief. I
test. The games tested in this issue are
I want you to please do me favour. I have even happier when you still find us relevant, personally appreciate his
really good. Please don’t provide demo
been a reader of Digit for 3 months, and after all these years. contribution. The web site content
I am a regular reader of Digit and it is Also, I liked the various articles on games, as it drives me crazy and makes
now my father and sisters have started We do have plans for online content together with the DVDs — all are
the first time I am writing to you. First preventing ourselves from getting me buy them.
reading it too. subscriptions, as well as international maga- on the path of improvement.
of all I congratulate you for being the hacked, specially, the one named Social But ours is a family of beginners in Mayur Gaikwad zine subscriptions, in the pipeline. You will Last month’s Fast Track on C++
best tech magazine in India. You people Engineering Techniques. the world of computers. I am the only be the first to know when we do launch such immensely enhanced my
are really doing a great job. Your Tips & Apart from that, This year, you one who knows a little more than the Those are some very valid suggestions, and we services. programming skills. The technical
Tricks, Q&A and Tech Talk are just added a lot more stuff on your DVD also, rest, and am often told that the many promise to look into it. You might be surprised Team Digit help desk works perfectly in
superb. I think the movies which you and that was quite impressive! computer related terms used in Digit are with a few of your requests from the next issue accordance with its name, and has
give on your DVDs are too outdated and The softwares were fresh, and I Greek to them. Similarly, there are many itself. As for your gaming enthusiasm, your let- I have been a regular Digit reader for given me full support whenever
are not worth watching, at least not for like trying new softwares. Being a people who do not even know the ABCs ter is sure to make some of our advertisers quite a long time... and I must say needed. They too deserve a big
me. You should provide some new and fresh Mechanical Engineer, I was of computers. very happy. that you are the best in the business. applause.
popular ones if possible. Frankly I buy thrilled to find Auto CAD 2009 among I would like to see a new column in Team Digit What i really like are the product But the greatest for me was the
your magazine only for the DVDs and other CAD tools. Digit meant for beginners. If you do this, it reviews especially the graphics card January 2009 edition. Comparison
don’t much care about the magazine I would appreciate if you could also will be a boon to beginners everywhere. reviews, but there is something more of the password strength with
except for a few sections. I appreciate arrange other reputed, basic yet I am a Doctor in Anaesthesiology that you can cover: you should also entropy in “Pass the word...” was
your packing which is better than essential CAD tools for trial, such as ‘Ravi Ranjan’
working in the UK for last 5 years. state the minimum and maximum excellent. I have always aspired to
before. I have read many other tech Pro/Engineer Wildfire, CATIA in your I came to India to visit my family power consumption of each graphics become a System Security Analyst
magazines but let me tell you, you are forthcoming editions, and publishing You have raised a very important point here,
and we can see why such a step is necessary. and had a long-ish stay this time. Hence card, so that we can choose the ones in the future. I am already a hot
far ahead of them. Fast Tracks on such tools, which could I found a bit of time to catch up with my that suit our needs best. favorite among my classmates for
Keep up the good work guys!!! help Mechanical Design Enthusiasts like All of us are aware about how confusing tech
terms can be to the non-initiated. You have a old favourites. Apar Bhatnagar the security aspects of their PCs.
Varun Singh me, as well. My brother introduced me to Digit And now, at the crucial stage,
Another thing I noticed, some tools great suggestion, and we will keep that in mind
for future issues. back when it was called Chip. Every That’s a very valid suggestion. Although we when I am in Class XII, the cover
We try to keep our content as fresh as possi- marked as freeware turn up to be good thing seems to loose its quality and story provided me with the right
shareware or trial versions, and have to do mention low-power consumption on
ble. If there is a new movie from the open Team Digit looses its charm with time, but I am hardware (like motherboards), especially direction.
source or copyleft community, you are sure to be uninstalled later. quite pleased to see that Digit has Thus Digit has given me
Please take a note of that. where it is substantial, and also mention
get it from us first. However, most of the I am reading Digit since 2005, and escaped this phenomenon. It is still as when a card uses way too much power, we magnitude and momentum to my
films that are released into the public Shivanjan Choudhury know firsthand how Digit achieved its good as ever! January issue was will take your idea and start doing this on a aspirations, as well as direction.
domain, are old. That does not necessarily top position. Every change you have absolutely fantastic and full of more regular basis. That’s why I called it a vector
mean that they are boring our outdated. The Thank you for the leg up. We will look into done in the Digit is superb, but I still information to keep us safe. quantity. I really thank you in
Great Dictator we gave last time is an all time including more specialist and enterprise soft- want to suggest a few more. Your I was trying to buy the December Team Digit advance for shaping my career and
classic, and Death Rides a Horse (this month’s ware in future releases of our DVD. procedure for taking feedback, by using edition, but it was sold out. I am aware assure my best services to the
DVD) is a great western that can give contem- Team Digit the feedback form was great, but make that it can be ordered online, but it will cyber community towards security.
porary cinema a run for its money. However, it online as you all might know, no one take about 5 to 7 days to reach me, and I CORRIGENDUM Three cheers to Digit!
your point is well taken. A belated happy new year to you! Your really posts anything anymore. am leaving tomorrow, so I can’t buy it. I Due to a clerical error, the contact details Manas Thakur,
Team Digit January issue was, as usual, awesome. I Secondly, please create a seperate do miss this magazine in the UK. for the XFX 9800GT on page 81, in this Balaghat
am really terrified by growing use of section for mobile phones in your Although there are more such month’s issue, are wrong. However, the M.P.
I am an avid reader of Digit, and have hi-tech gadgets like mobile phones, GPS magazine, just 2 or 3 pages every magazines there, I love Digit for its ratings for the product are correct. The
been reading it for the past few years. devices as reflected by your cover story. month. In this way, Digit will also simplicity, easy language and its Indian contact details were supposed to read: This is a fresh analysis of our content.
The best part of the magazine is The growing technology, which makes cover the needs of a mobile magazine, origins. Contact: Rashi Peripherals We always love to read e-mails from
the “Your Questions, Our Answers” me happy at times also terrifies me at since there are more mobile users than It will be very very useful for readers Phone: 022-67090828 our young readers, and are always glad
section, which provides solutions to others. PC users in India. like me to have an online subscription, E-mail: response@rptechindia.com to help. We wish you all the very best in
the basic problems that most of us face You have also covered a similar I also must add that Digit is very as then I could access the content from Web site: www.rptech.com your chosen profession.
in our day to day life, while handling article in your December 2006 issue addictive magazine. anywhere in the world; plus I could save Price: Rs. 10,000
our system. named ‘You’re being watched’. Shishir Priyadarshi some paper. The DVD content could be We apologise for the error. Team Digit
118 DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 www.thinkdigit.com www.thinkdigit.com DIGIT FEBRUARY 2009 119
The Last Word
Bloatware Blues
W
WITH ITS MOUNTAINS of petty and idi- workstations; this would stimulate
otic regulations, the European Union healthy competition and the smaller pro-
(EU) is hardly my favourite organisation. grams could be expected to be relatively
However, it sometimes get things right, free of errors. We have instead been sold
and recently started new legal action inefficient bloatware.
against Microsoft for anti-competitive Personally, I blame the hardware ven-
practices. The focus of attention, as dors. They kowtow to the Microsoft line
before, is with Internet Explorer being far more than seems rational. Why?
tied into the operating system. Because hardware keeps growing in size,
This approach is the exact opposite of far more quickly than genuine software
the original vision described by Bill needs. By providing excessively bloated Edward Henning, Editor-in-Chief
Gates. Back in the days (18/19 years ago) software, Microsoft helps drive hardware
when a few journalists like myself used sales, and other application developers
to get to meet him and discuss these have to follow suit because of the check-
“I am only a very infrequent
things properly, Gates described his view box approach to functionality (feature user of Word, and I can hon-
of the desktop of the future as being com- tables in magazines don’t exactly help in estly say that only two fea-
ponent-oriented. this).
With this approach, instead of buy- One trick that Microsoft and others tures useful to me have been
ing one or more large applications, you have used to force us to keep upgrading added to the software since
buy much smaller ones, and then add has been constant changes in file format.
other “component” programs that pro- So, you are using last year’s version of Word for Windows v.1.0a.”
vide the extra features that you need. Word and you receive an email attach-
You might have a word processor as a ment from somebody using this year’s powerful PCs currently shipping with
basic program that only formats text and version. You can’t open it, and the pres- Vista. Microsoft insists through its
prints it out — very robust, with excellent sure is therefore on to upgrade, even licence agreements with hardware ven-
ease of use, good font-handling, etc. If though the new version offers no new dors on strict limits to memory size, hard
you should also want a spell-checker, the- functionality that you need. I am only a disk size, and so forth. Have more than a
saurus, or some other add-on, you can very infrequent user of Word, and I can certain amount of memory, and you
buy this separately, and it will integrate honestly say that only two features useful can’t ship, for example, Windows XP, but
fully with your basic word-processor. to me have been added to the software have to force your customers to take
These extra add-ons need not come from since Word for Windows v.1.0a. We have Vista. To hell with customer choice. But
the same software vendor. all fallen for this hook, line and sinker. the effect is not always in Microsoft’s
You might well have a word processor I used the word force in the last para- favour.
from Microsoft, a presentation applica- graph because Microsoft has often been As Linux improves and remains flexi-
tion from Corel, and a spell checker from accused of bullying tactics, and both the ble and scalable, increasing numbers of
Adobe, that would work with the other news item about the EU and our current vendors are considering moving to it.
two and any other programs that needed review of netbooks highlighted this. Give an average customer a Linux
spell checks, such as your free-standing Scared of Linux — a much more flex- machine with a Windows look-and-feel,
(not OS integrated) web browser. The ible and scalable operating system — tak- and most would hardly be able to tell the
operating system would provide the ing over the netbook market, a few difference. Microsoft’s bullying is begin-
object-oriented basis for this structure, months ago Microsoft made Windows ning to look like the best marketing tool
itself consisting of components. XP Home available together with Linux could have. And Microsoft’s
There would be many benefits — you Windows CE for low-end devices. So why response? Instead of more bullying, why
would no longer clutter your hard disk only low-end? I once annoyed a Microsoft not go back to Gates’ original compo-
with functionality you don’t need, gener- person when I was testing Windows CE a nent-oriented vision? Dream on...
ally making much more efficient use of few years ago by saying that this was the
system — i.e. your — resources; you could lean operating system I wanted on my
tailor your system to precisely your own desktop. But that could not be allowed,
needs, with large organisations creating could it? It is not that Windows CE could
their own modules for specialist require- not easily be made to run on more pow-
ments. It would be highly scalable from erful machines than a netbook, or that
small portable systems to power-packed Windows XP could not run on the more edward.henning@9dot9.in